Men’s Basketball Comes Up Short at Loyola

Chicago, Ill. – Since tonight was Jesuit Jam Night at Loyola University Chicago it's only appropriate that a quote from St. Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits, summed up the game for Fordham: "Teach us to give and not to count the cost." The Rams gave the Ramblers all they could handle but when the final score was counted came up short, falling 70-66, in an Atlantic 10 game in Gentile Arena.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 8-11 overall, 0-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Loyola improves to 12-7 overall, 3-3 in the conference.
 
Fordham was led by senior guard Jackie Johnson III and senior guard Japhet Medor, who each finished with 22 points, with Medor adding six assists and Johnson two steals. Junior forward Joshua Rivera also finished in double figures for the Rams with 12 points.
 
The Rams trailed by three at the break, 34-31, but scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 39-34 lead 2:31 into the period. Johnson scored four of the eight Fordham points.
 
The Rams led by four four times later in the half, the final at 55-51 on a Rivera driving layup with 8:32 remaining but the Fordham offense then went cold as the Ramblers scored the next ten points to take a 61-55 lead with just under five minutes left in the game.
 
Fordham managed to get the Loyola lead down to two, 61-59, on a pair of Medor free throws and a Johnson basket over the next 1:30 but the Ramblers bumped their advantage back to six, 67-61, with 1:21 on the clock.
 
A Medor driving layup with 28 seconds remaining pulled Fordham within four, 67-63, but that was as close as the Rams would get aside from a Rivera three at the buzzer for the 70-67 final.
 
The Ramblers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first minute of the game before a 10-2 Fordham spurt gave the Rams a 10-4 lead on a Johnson three 4:38 into the game.
 
The Rams used a 7-2 run to take a seven-point lead, 24-17, with 6:46 left in the first following a Medor driving layup but the Ramblers then went on an 11-4 run to tie the game at 28 on a Sheldon Edwards three-pointer four minutes later.
 
Loyola took a four-point lead late in the half, 34-30, before a Zach Riley free throw made it a 34-31, game at the break.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in 18 of the 19 games this year.
 
• Japhet Medor recorded the six assists without a turnover tonight.
 
• Over the past four games Medor has 17 assists with just four turnovers.
 
• Fordham freshman center Jaden Smith missed playing his first game as a Ram in his hometown due to injury.
 
• Fordham interim head coach Tray Woodall and Loyola Chicago head coach Drew Valentine faced off against each other twice prior to tonight. The first was in the first round of the 2010 NCAA Championship when Pitt defeated Oakland, 89-66, and the second was in 2012-13 when the Panthers needed overtime to defeat the Golden Grizzlies, 72-62, in overtime as Woodall dished out nine assists.
 
• The Rams wore their gray uniforms tonight as Loyola was wearing black.
 
• After seeing 79 total fouls called in their last game, tonight there were only 31 whistled.
 
• Loyola entered the game third in the Atlantic 10 in three-point shooting percentage (.356) but were held to ,316 (6-19) tonight.
 
• As she does before every Loyola home game Sister Jean said a pregame prayer.
 
• It was the fifth meeting between Fordham and Loyola Chicago and the Ramblers now lead the series, 3-2.
 
• As part of Jesuit Jam night, there was a Jesuit trivia contests in the second half.
 
• The Fordham managers defeated the Loyola managers, 78-51, on Tuesday night behind 26 points, including eighth three-pointers, and six assists from Jack Abajian.
 
By the Numbers
9 – Three-pointers made by Fordham.
 
12 – Career 20-point games for Jackie Johnson III.
 
182 - Career blocks at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had one tonight, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
 
612 – Career rebounds at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, 20^th on the career rebounding list.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the defending Atlantic 10 Champions, the Duquesne University Dukes in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Sunday, January 26, at 12:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 51st meeting between Fordham and Duquesne on the hardwood.
 
• The Dukes lead the all-time series, which started in the 1949-50 season, 29-21, but the Rams have taken five of the last six meetings.
 
• The two teams split a pair of games last year with Duquesne wining the first meeting, 68-59, on January 27 in Pittsburgh behind 15 points from Jake DiMichele while Elijah Gray led all scorers with 19 points for Fordham before Fordham took the second, 79-67, in the Rose Hill Gym on February 23 as Kyle Rose netted 23 points and Antrell Charlton added 16 for the Rams.
 
• The Fordham win was Duquesne's last loss of the season until the Dukes lost in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.