Men’s Basketball Knocks Off Duquesne

Bronx, N.Y. - "What a Diff'rence a Day Made", also recorded as "What a Difference a Day Makes", is a popular song originally written in Spanish by María Grever, a Mexican songwriter, in 1934. The song is also known in English as "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes", as popularized by Dinah Washington in 1959. For the Fordham fans who attended the last Ram home game prior to today the song could be "What a Diff'rence Eleven Days Make." On January 15 the Rams played a triple overtime game that lasted three hours and 40 minutes with 218 combined points and 79 fouls. Today's Atlantic 10 matchup with Duquesne was much different as the game took just over two hours with 125 total points scored and just 39 fouls whistled. But most importantly for Fordham, the result was different as the Rams held on for a 65-63 win over the defending conference champions in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 9-11 overall, 1-6 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne falls to 9-11 overall, 4-3 in the conference.  
 
Junior forward Joshua Rivera led Fordham with a game-high 16 points and he grabbed six rebounds, while grad student guard Japhet Medor added 14 points and seven assists and junior forward Romad Dean chipped in with 12 points.
 
The Rams made just one basket over the final 6:29 but it turned out to be the most important one of the day as Jackie Johnson III found Rivera in the corner in front of the Fordham bench and Rivera buried a three to give Fordham the 65-63 lead with 24 seconds left.
 
Duquesne had a chance for a tie or win with the final possession but a Tre Dinkins III jumper in the lane bounced out and a tip-in attempt from Cameron Crawford fell off the rim as the horn sounded.
 
Fordham trailed by one at the break, 30-29, but scored the first four points of the second half to take a 33-30 lead on a Johnson layup 48 seconds into the half.
 
The Dukes responded with seven straight points to take a 37-33 lead with 16:48 remaining but the Rams chipped away at the lead, eventually taking a 39-38 lead on a Medor layup 1:41 later.
 
Later in the half the score was knotted 42 when Fordham used an 8-2 run to take its largest lead of the day, 50-44, on a Medor three with 11:40 on the clock.
 
Fordham led by six again, 59-53, with 6:29 remaining following a Dean alley oop dunk from Medor but that would be the Rams' last basket until Rivera's three.
 
Duquesne worked away at the Fordham lead and took a 63-62 lead on a Crawford tip-in with 1:35 left, setting up Rivera's last minute heroics.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III, who scored ten points today, has scored in double figures in 19 of his 20 games this year.
 
• Johnson played his freshman year at Duquesne in 2021-22.
 
• Over the past four games Japhet Medor has 24 assists with just five turnovers.
 
• Over the past five games Medor is shooting .864 (38-44) from the free throw stripe (he was 7-8 today).
 
• Rivera's 16 points is one shy of his season high which he did twice.
 
• The Rams outrebounded the Dukes, 41-27.
 
• Fordham outscored Duquesne 20-8 from the charity stripe.
 
• The Rams have taken six of the last seven meetings with the Dukes.
 
• The two teams will meet again in Pittsburgh later this year (February 19).
 
• The game was Fordham's Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers Week game as the Ram coaches wore sneakers with their suits to support the American Cancer Society's vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
 
• The win snaps a six-game Fordham losing streak.
 
• Hall of Fame coach Bob Hurley, Sr., attended the game to support Fordham interim head coach Tray Woodall, who played for Hurley at St. Anthony.
 
• Fordham graduate assistant Yole Akuwovo also played for Hurley at St. Anthony.
 
• The games featured contrasting styles as Fordham entered the weekend playing at the nation's 48^th quickest pace, averaging 70.3 possessions per game, while Duquesne entered ranking 323^rd at 64.2 possessions per contest (according to KenPom as of Friday afternoon).
 
By the Numbers
11 – Fouls called on Fordham, a season-low.
 
12 – Times the game was tied.
 
15.0 – Scoring average for Joshua Rivera of the past three games.
 
15 – Lead changes in the game.
 
16 – Offensive rebounds by Fordham, the most in a regulation games this year and the 13^th time Rams recorded double figures.
 
184 - Career blocks at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had two today, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
 
619 – Career rebounds at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had seven today, 20^th on the career rebounding list.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by traveling to Philadelphia to face the La Salle University Explorers in the John Glaser Arena on Wednesday, January 29, at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 67th meeting between Fordham and La Salle on the hardwood.
 
• The Explorers lead the all-time series, which started in 1953-54, 44-22, but the Rams have taken five of the last matchups.
 
• La Salle won last year's meeting, 81-76, in the Rose Hill Gym on January 6 to snap a Fordham five-game winning streak in the series as Daeshon Sheppard scored 15 points and eight rebounds for the Explorers while Will Richardson led all scorers in the game for Fordham with 16.
 
• The Rams won both of the 2022-23 meetings, 66-64, in Philadelphia on January 14 behind 19 points from Will Richardson, and 69-61 in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship as Darius Quisenberry netted 22 points and Khalid Moore added 20 points and eleven rebounds.