Men’s Basketball Falls to George Washington

Bronx, N.Y. – Today is Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent for the Catholic Church. Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church. Unfortunately the Fordham men's basketball team couldn't make amends to a cold first half as the Revolutionaries built a 42-23 lead en route to an 81-58 win over the Rams in an Atlantic 10 game in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
With the loss, Fordham falls to 11-19 overall, 3-14 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington improves to 20-11 overall, 9-9 in the conference.
 
The Rams were led by senior guard Jackie Johnson III, who scored a game-high 19 points, hitting three three-pointers, while grad student forward Abdou Tsimbila finished with ten points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the year.
 
The game got off to a slow start offensively with the Revolutionaries taking a 7-5 lead five minutes into the game. George Washington then heated up, using a 9-2 spurt to take a 16-7 lead on a Darren Buchanan, Jr. layup with 11:55 remaining.
 
A Tsimbila layup 20 seconds later cut the Fordham deficit to seven, 16-9, but five straight George Washington points put the visitors up 12, 21-9, midway through the half.
 
After a Ryan Pettis jumper made it a ten-point game, 21-11, a minute later, the Revolutionaries ran off seven straight points to take a 17-point lead, 28-11, on a Christian Jones three-point play with 6:24 left.
 
The Rams cut the deficit to eleven three times over the next four minutes, the final time at 34-23, following a pair of Japhet Medor free throws. But George Washington closed out the half with eight straight points to take a 42-23 lead at the break and the closest Fordham could get in the second half was 17.
 
Takeaways
• Jackie Johnson III has scored in double figures in 29 of the 30 games this year.

• It was the first time this season Jackie Johnson III did not start (no Rams has started all 30 games this year).
 
• Ryan Pettis made his first collegiate start and dished out a career-high four assists.
 
• Over the past 14 games Japhet Medor has 70 assists with just 24 turnovers.
 
• Abdou Tsimbila is shooting .589 (33-56) over the past ten games.
 
• Tsimbila has recorded double figures in rebounding in four games this year.
 
• Senior Brian Nussbaum made the most of his final Rose Hill Gym game, hitting a three-pointer for his first career points as a Ram.
 
• The Rams shot 55.2% (16-29) in the second half.
 
• George Washington entered the game tops in the A-10 in steals (9.1/game) and recorded ten tonight.
 
By the Numbers
7 – Career double-doubles for Abdou Tsimbila.
 
12 – Rebounds by Abdou Tsimbila, tying his season-high.
 
13 – Career double digit rebounding games for Abdou Tsimbila.
 
18.7 – Jackie Johnson III's scoring average in Atlantic 10 games.
 
58 – Career double figure scoring games for Jackie Johnson III.
 
79 - Three-pointers made by Jackie Johnson III this year, moving him into a tie for fifth with Jason Harris  on the Fordham single season list.
 
201 - Career blocks at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had two tonight, fourth on the Rams' career blocks list.
 
210– Career collegiate blocks for Abdou Tsimbila.
  
684 – Career rebounds at Fordham for Abdou Tsimbila, who had 12 tonight, moving him past Dan O'Sullivan and into 15th on the career rebounding list.
 
1,095 – Career collegiate points for Japhet Medor.
 
1,186 – Career collegiate points for Jackie Johnson III.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams close out their 2024-25 Atlantic 10 regular season with a trip up Route 95 to take on the University of Rhode Island Rams in the Ryan Center on Saturday, March 8, at 2:00 p.m.
 
• It will be the 76th meeting between Fordham and Rhode Island on the hardwood.
 
• Rhode Island leads the all-time series, which started in the 1941-42 season, 42-33.
 
• Fordham took this year's first meeting, 80-79, on February 5 in the Rose Hill Gym as Matt Zona put back a Japhet Medor miss with less than two seconds remaining for the margin of victory.