Men’s Basketball Puts Back Rhode Island

Bronx, N.Y. – On the second Fordham men's basketball game during Black History Month the Rams can draw inspiration from Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who famously said "The time is always right to do what is right." Tonight Fordham grad student forward Matt Zona found the time to do what's right. With exactly 2.3 seconds remaining he put back a Japhet Medor layup to give Fordham a 80-79 lead and Fordham held on for the Atlantic 10 win in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the win, Fordham's third in the last four games, Fordham improves to 11-12 overall, 3-7 in the Atlantic 10, while Rhode Island falls to 15-7 overall, 4-6 in the conference.
 
Senior guard Jackie Johnson III led Fordham with a game-high 25 points, and he added three steals, while junior forward Joshua Rivera chipped in with 19 points and seven rebounds, and grad student guard Japhet Medor finished with 17 points and six assists.
 
Fordham trailed by four, 79-75, following two Jamarques Lawrence free throws for Rhode Island with 24 seconds left but Fordham quickly moved the ball up court and Medor found Johnson open for a three with 17 seconds remaining to cut the Fordham deficit to one, 79-78.
 
Fordham fouled Rhode Island's Sebastian Thomas two seconds later but Thomas missed the first end of a one-and-one, his one missed free throw of the night, and Romad Dean grabbed the rebound for Fordham.
 
After Fordham called a timeout with 9.1 seconds left, Medor took the inbounds pass and drove the lane but his layup fell off the rim. Luckily for Fordham Zona was right there to put it back and give Fordham the 80-79 lead with 2.3 seconds remaining.
 
Following a Rhode Island timeout the visitors got the ball to Thomas but his half court heave at the buzzer was short.
 
Fordham opened the game hot, scoring the first seven points of the game before Rhode Island scored five straight to cut the Fordham lead to two, 7-5, 5:35 into the game.
 
Fordham led by four later in the half, 16-12, and then went on a 14-3 run to take its largest lead of the night, 30-15, on a Johnson steal and three-pointer.
 
Rhode Island wouldn't back down as the visiting Rams chipped away at the Fordham advantage, eventually getting it down to two, 39-37, at the half.
 
Fordham led by one, 48-47, four minutes into the second half when Rhode Island scored eleven of the next 15 points to take a 58-52 lead on a Jaden House layup with 13:29 on the clock.
 
Rhode Island led for the rest of the half until Zona's basket with 2.3 seconds remaining.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in 22 of the 23 games this year.
 
• Johnson is averaging 20.7 ppg over the past seven and 18.8 ppg in A-10 play.
 
• In his last eight games, Medor is averaging 18.1 points, 5.0 assists and just over one turnover per contest.
 
• Over the past seven games Medor is shooting .862 (50-58) from the free throw stripe (he was 7-8 tonight).
 
• Medor is two points shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career.
 
• Joshua Rivera has scored in double figures in his last six games, averaging 14.5 ppg over that stretch.
 
• Romad Dean is averaging 7.1 rpg over the past seven games.
 
• The Rams have played one possession games in three of their past four contests.
 
• Fordham improves to 8-2 this year when outrebounding its opponents.
 
• The Rams wore their black uniforms for the second straight game.
 
• The game featured the second leading scorer in the A-10 (URI's Sebastian Thomas – 19.0 ppg) and the third leading scorer (Fordham's Jackie Johnson III – 18.6 ppg).
 
• Two "Mayors of Fordham" were in attendance: Chuba Ohams and Albe Evans, along with former Ram Pat Kelly.
 
• Rhode Island entered the game first in field goal percentage defense (.283) but Fordham shot .333 (12-36) tonight.
 
• Rhode Island had been limiting their opponents to 6.2 three-pointers made /game but Fordham connected on 12 tonight.
 
By the Numbers
6 – Blocks by Fordham, led by three from Abdou Tsimbila.
 
11 – 20-point games by Jackie Johnson III this year.
 
14 – Career 20-point games by Jackie Johnson III.
 
19 – Points by Joshua Rivera, a season-high (previous high was 17 which he did twice).
 
190 - Career blocks at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had three tonight, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
 
632 – Career rebounds at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had three today, moving him into 18th on the career rebounding list.
 
698 – All-time Fordham wins in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
1,605 – All-time wins for Fordham.
 
What's Next?
• After a week off, the Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the University of Dayton Flyers in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 43rd meeting between Fordham and Dayton on the hardwood.
 
• The Flyers lead the all-time series, which started in 1952-53, 36-6, and have won 20 of the last 21 match-ups.
 
• Dayton took last year's game, 78-70, in Dayton as DaRon Holmes scored 29 points and added ten rebounds for the Flyers.