Olean, N.Y. – Even though tomorrow is Groundhog Day the St. Bonaventure men's basketball team might have thought it was today. The last two times Fordham paid a visit to the Reilly Center the Rams went home with a win. Today the Rams trailed by as many as 15 in the first half before mounting a late comeback to tie the game late but in the end Fordham came up just short of its third straight win at St. Bonaventure, falling to the Bonnies, 74-72, in an Atlantic 10 game.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 10-12 overall, 2-7 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure improves to 17-6 overall, 5-5 in the conference.
Fordham was led by senior guard
Jackie Johnson III, who scored a team-high 20 points and he added three assists, while grad student guard
Japhet Medor added 18 points. Junior forward
Joshua Rivera also finished in double figures for the Rams with 12 points.
The Rams trailed by nine, 59-50, midway through the second half when an
Abdou Tsimbila dunk started a 15-3 run as the Rams pulled within three, 65-62, on a Medor three-pointer with 5:12 remaining.
Fordham trailed by four a minute later, 66-62, but a pair of Medor free throws made it a two-point game, 66-64.
After the Bonnies increased the lead to four, 68-64, back-to-back Johnson baskets tied the game at 68 with 2:34 on the clock.
Jonah Hinton connected on a three-ball, only the fourth three of the game for the Bonnies, and Chance Moore followed with a basket off a Fordham turnover to put the Bonnies up five, 73-68, with 1:19 on the clock.
Two Johnson free throws with 28 seconds left cut the Bona lead to three, 73-70, and a
Romad Dean put back dunk cut it to one, 73-72, with six ticks left.
After Lajee Jones hit one of two free throws the Rams had a chance for a tie or win but a half court Medor shot fell short.
The Bonnies jumped out to a 7-0 lead 3:18 into the game before a Medor three got the Rams on the board.
The Medor three started a 10-5 Fordham run as the Rams pulled within two, 12-10, on a Rivera trifecta with 13:23 left.
St. Bonaventure responded with a 14-3 run to take a 26-13 lead midway through the half and got the lead to as many as 16, 30-14, with 8:21 remaining.
The Rams cut the deficit to nine, 33-24, on a Johnson driving layup with 3:22 on the clock but the Bonnies were able to take a 40-29 halftime lead.
Takeaways
•
Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in 21 of his 22 games this year.
• In his last seven games, Medor is averaging 18.3 points, 4.9 assists and just over one turnover per contest.
• Over the past six games Medor is shooting .860 (43-50) from the free throw stripe (he was 2-2 today).
•
Joshua Rivera has scored in double figures in his last five games, averaging 13.6 ppg over that stretch.
• St. Bonaventure entered the game third in the Atlantic 10 in defensive scoring (63.6 ppg) but allowed the Rams to score 72 points, 43 in the second half.
• Seven of the eight Rams who played today scored.
• Fordham wore its black uniforms with special Black History Month shooting shirts to honor the first day of Black History Month.
• The game was Fordham's third
Coaches vs. Cancer game this week as the Ram coaches wore Coaches vs. Cancer pullovers on the bench to support the American Cancer Society's vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone.
• It was a sort of homecoming for two members of the Fordham staff. Interim head coach
Tray Woodall served as an assistant at St. Bonaventure from 2019-21, and athletic trainer
Rebecca Davis, who was the assistant athletic director for sports medicine/head athletic trainer for the Bonnies from 2019-21.
• The Rams have seen enough of St. Bonaventure's Melvin Council, Jr., who scored 13 points today and 24 in the first meeting this year (he also scored 21 as a member of the Wagner team last year).
• The Bonnies honored their 2000 NCAA tournament team at halftime.
By the Numbers
9 – Turnovers by the Rams, one shy of their season-low.
10 – 20-point games by
Jackie Johnson III this year.
13 – Career 20-point games by
Jackie Johnson III.
53.6 – Fordham's second half field goal percentage (27-56).
187 - Career blocks at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had two today, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
627 – Career rebounds at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had three today, moving him into 19th on the career rebounding list.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the University of Rhode Island Rams in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 75th meeting between Fordham and Rhode Island on the hardwood.
• Rhode Island leads the all-time series, which started in the 1941-42 season, 42-32.
• The two teams split a pair of games last year with Fordham winning the first meeting, 71-68, in Kingston on January 24 behind 24 points and six rebounds from
Kyle Rose, and Rhode Island taking the second, 58-50, in the Rose Hill Gym on March 9 as Tyson Brown scored 12 points and added
eleven rebounds for Rhody.
