Gallery: (1-15-2025) Men's Basketball vs. UMass
Bronx, N.Y. – The Rose Hill Gym opened on January 16, 1925 and the current Fordham squad was doing all it could to make it to the anniversary day. Unlike the first game played in a gym, a 46-16 win for the Rams over Boston College, tonight's game was a much higher scoring affair but unfortunately for the Rams the outcome was different as the University of Massachusetts ruined the 100
th anniversary for Fordham, outlasting the Rams, 120-118, in triple overtime in an Atlantic 10 contest.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 8-10 overall, 0-5 in the Atlantic 10, while UMass improves to 7-11 overall, 2-3 in the conference.
The Rams were led by senior guard
Jackie Johnson III who scored a career-high 36 points to go with seven rebounds, while grad student guard
Japhet Medor added a season-high 25 points, four rebounds, and five assists. Junior forward
Joshua Rivera also finished in double figures for the Rams, netting 17 points and adding seven rebounds, as did grad student forward
Matt Zona, who scored 12 points to go with a career-high nine boards.
The game set numerous Fordham records, led by UMass' Rahsool Diggins who scored a game-high 46 points, setting the Rose Hill record by a visiting player and tying Fordham's Kenny Charles' Rose Hill Gym record.
The game was tied at 108 after two overtimes and Fordham jumped out to a 117-113 lead midway through the third extra period following an
Abdou Tsimbila tip in.
The Rams led by four again with 2:04 left after Medor hit one of two free throws but a Diggins layup with 1:29 remaining made it a two-point game.
Fordham turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and UMass' Daniel Rivera made it hurt with a jumper in the paint to retie the game at 118 with 46 seconds left.
Another Ram turnover gave the Minutemen the ball with 34 seconds on the clock and Rivera backed down his defender in the paint and scored with ten seconds remaining to give UMass the 120-118 lead.
The Rams had one last chance to send the game to a fourth overtime but Medor's jumper at the buzzer bounced away as the horn sounded.
Takeaways
• Fordham women's basketball Hall of Famer Anne Gregory O'Connell, Fordham's all-time leading scorer and rebounder, presented the game ball tonight.
• Jackie Johnson's previous career-high was 30 against George Washington in 2022 when he played for Duquesne.
•
Japhet Medor's previous season-high was 23 versus Manhattan.
• The 118 points are the most scored by the Rams in the Rose Hill Gym and the fourth most overall (school record is 128 at Rochester in 1970.
• It was the first triple overtime game in Rose Hill Gym history for the Rams.
• Fordham has now played in three triple overtime games, in 1977 at Cornell and last year at George Washington.
• The former scoring record for an opponent in the Rose Hill Gym was 37 set by UMass' Julius Erving in 1970.
• It was the final visit to the Rose Hill Gym as an Atlantic 10 member for UMass, who is leaving the Atlantic 10 for the MAC next year.
By the Numbers
3:40 – Time of the game.
9 – Rebounds by
Matt Zona, a career-high (previous high was six which he did three times).
9 – Players who fouled out of the game (five Rams and four Minutemen).
18 – Three-point attempts by
Jackie Johnson III, tying for second most in a game for a Ram.
48 - Free throws made by the Rams, a school record (previous mark was 39 versus Lehigh in 1993).
65 – Free throws attempted by Fordham, as school-record (previous mark was 46 versus Lehigh in 1993).
79 – Combined fouls in the game (40 by Fordham and 39 by Massachusetts).
85 – Combined free throws made in the game.
122 – Combined free throws attempted in the game.
181 - Career blocks at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had two tonight, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
238 – Combined points by the two teams, a Fordham and Rose Hill Gym record (previous Fordham mark was 232 in the triple overtime game at George Washington last year while the Rose Hill Gym record was 207 against Boston College in 1978).
611 – Career rebounds at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had nine tonight, moving him into a tie for 20
th on the career rebounding list.
What's Next?
• After a week off, the Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by traveling to Chicago to take on the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers in the Gentile Arena on Wednesday, January 22, at 8:00 p.m. (ET)
• It will be the fifth meeting between Fordham and Loyola Chicago on the hardwood.
• The all-time series is tied, 2-2.
• The Ramblers won last year's meeting, 65-61, on January 20 in the Rose Hill Gym as Des Watson scored a game-high 19 points and
Elijah Gray netted 15 for the Rams.
• Fordham took the 2022-23 meeting, 71-69, on February 22 in Chicago as Darius Quisenberry scored a game-high 26 points, shooting 4-for-7 from behind the arc, while Khalid Moore added 19 points and six rebounds for the Rams.
