Bronx, N.Y. – Holy Cross head coach Dave Paulsen served for two years on the Fordham staff from 2021-23. Today his Crusaders made his return to historic Rose Hill Gym a successful one, coming from behind to defeat the Rams, 70-69, thanks to a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds remaining.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 6-4 while Holy Cross improves to 4-6.
Senior guard
Christian Henry led the Rams with 18 points while dishing out four assists, while junior forward
Rikus Schulte added a double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds, and grad student guard
Dejour Reaves finished with 12 points and five assists.
How it Happened
• The Rams led by ten, 68-58, with 3:17 on the clock when a DeAndre Williams layup started a 10-0 Holy Cross run to knot the game at 68, capped by a Tyler Boston three with 47 seconds remaining.
• Schulte grabbed an offensive rebound with 14 ticks on the clock and was fouled but made only one of two free throws.
• Holy Cross then got an offensive rebound from Joe Nugent with 2.7 seconds left and he was fouled.
• Nugent's first free throw bounced all around the rim before going and his second was nothing but net.
• The Rams had one last chance but a 40-footer from Reaves bounced off the backboard as time expired.
• Fordham led by eleven at the break, 38-27, and opened the second half with a 14-9 spurt to take its biggest lead of the day, 52-36, on a Reaves jumper with 13:16 left.
Notes
• The double-double was the third of the year for
Rikus Schulte.
•
Dejour Reaves has scored in double figures in all nine games he has appeared in this year.
• Redshirt freshman
Abass Bodija made his first career start.
• Fordham was outscored from the free throw stripe, 17-13.
• The Rams were without the services of sophomore guard
Ryan Pettis, who missed his fourth game, and grad student guard
Louis Lesmond.
By the Numbers
5 – Steals by
Rikus Schulte, a career-high and the most for a Ram this year.
6 – Different starting lineups for the Rams this year.
57 – Career double figure scoring games for
Dejour Reaves.
What's Next?
• The Rams host the FDU Knights on Wednesday, December 10, at 7:00 p.m. in the historic Rose Hill Gym.
• It will be the sixth meeting between the Rams and the Knights, who matchup for the third straight year.
• Fordham has taken all five previous meetings, including an 84-75 win in the Rose Hill Gym last December 4 as
Jackie Johnson III scored 21 points and
Jahmere Tripp added 20 for the Rams.
• The Rams are 53-14 against schools currently in the Northeast Conference, including wins over Wagner and LIU earlier this year.
Portions of this article was created using technology provided by
Data Skrive.
