Gallery: (3-1-2025) Men's Basketball vs. Saint Joseph's
Bronx, N.Y. – The seven Fordham men's basketball seniors who were making their final appearance in the historic Rose Hill Gym can take a page from Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts, who famously said "Try and leave this world a little better than you found it." Despite the outcome today, a 90-76 Atlantic 10 loss to Saint Joseph's, the seven seniors, especially the two who have been at Fordham for four years, can look back and see that they left the Fordham basketball program a little better than they found it.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 11-18 overall, 3-13 in the Atlantic 10, while Saint Joseph's improves to 19-10 overall, 10-6 in the conference.
The Rams were led by senior guard
Jackie Johnson III, who scored a team-high 18 points, while junior forward
Joshua Rivera added 14 points and four rebounds. Sophomore forward
Jahmere Tripp and junior forward
Romad Dean also scored in double figures with Tripp netting 13 points and Dean adding eleven with eight rebounds.
The Rams led by two at the break, 47-45, but the Hawks came out on fire to open the second half, scoring on three of their first four possessions to take a 53-47 lead three minutes into the period.
A Dean three-pointer 18 seconds later brought the Rams within three, 53-50, but Saint Joseph's responded with a 10-3 run to take a 63-53 lead on a Rahseer Fleming bucket with 12:36 left.
A Rivera three with 11:47 on the clock made it a 63-56 game but four straight Hawk points put the visitors up eleven, 67-56, midway through the half and the closest the Rams would get from there was eight, which they did five times.
The Hawks led by four, 29-25, midway through the first half when the Rams netted ten straight to take a 35-29 lead on a Dean jumper with 8:08 left.
Fordham led by four later in the half, 39-35, before a Tripp free throw and Johnson three-point play put the Rams up eight, 43-35, with 4:21 remaining. But Saint Joseph's closed out the half with a 10-4 run to make it a two-point game at the half, 47-45.
Takeaways
• Prior to the game
Jackie Johnson III,
Japhet Medor,
Brian Nussbaum,
Zach Riley,
Abdou Tsimbila, and
Matt Zona were honored along with senior manager Alex Usatine.
•
Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in 28 of the 29 games this year.
•
Japhet Medor has scored in double figures in 14 of the last 15 games, averaging 16.5 ppg over that stretch.
• Over the past 13 games Medor has 66 assists with just 21 turnovers.
•
Jahmere Tripp has scored in double figures in two the past three games, averaging 12.3 ppg over that stretch.
•
Romad Dean is averaging 6.2 rpg over the past five games.
•
Abdou Tsimbila is shooting .622 (28-45) over the past ten games.
• The Fordham bench outscored the Saint Joseph's bench, 38-5.
By the Numbers
18.7 –
Jackie Johnson III's scoring average in Atlantic 10 games.
21 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams, the second most in a game this year (season-high is 23 vs. UMass in triple overtime).
76 - Three-pointers made by
Jackie Johnson III this year, sixth on the Fordham single season list.
199 - Career blocks at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had one today, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
208– Career collegiate blocks for
Abdou Tsimbila.
672 – Career rebounds at Fordham for
Abdou Tsimbila, who had four today, 16th on the career rebounding list.
1,088 – Career collegiate points for
Japhet Medor.
1,167 – Career collegiate points for
Jackie Johnson III.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the George Washington University Revolutionaries in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, March 5, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 45th meeting between Fordham and George Washington on the hardwood.
• The Revolutionaries lead the all-time series, which started in the 1914-15 season, 31-13 but the Rams have taken the past three, including a wild 119-113 triple overtime game in Washington, D.C., last year on Jan. 3 as
Japhet Medor scored 24 points and
Antrell Charlton added 22 for the Rams.
