Rams Take Down Bonnies, 81-77

St. Bonaventure, N.Y, - St. Bonaventure, the namesake of St. Bonaventure University, lived by the motto: "Do common things well and be constantly faithful to small matters." The Fordham men's basketball team took that to heart today, especially grad student guard Dejour Reaves, who scored a career-high 31 points, to lead the Rams to an 81-77 Atlantic 10 win in the Reilly Center.
 
With the win, Fordham improves to 10-7 overall, 1-3 in the Atlantic 10, while St. Bonaventure falls to 11-5 overall, 0-3 in the conference.
 
Reaves was 9-for-17 from the field and a perfect 12—for-12 from the charity stripe for his 31 points. Junior forwards Akira Jacobs and Rikus Schulte and sophomore center Jack Whitbourn also scored in double figures for the Rams with 14 points each. Whitbourn added eleven rebounds for his second double-double of the season while senior guard Christian Henry matched his career-high with nine assists.
 
How it Happened
• After falling behind 4-3, Fordham went on a 7-0 run with 18:12 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Schulte, to take a 10-4 lead 2:30 into the game.
 
• The Bonnies came back, taking a 21-20 lead with 8:33 remaining and the game would be close the rest of the half until Schulte hit a three-at the halftime buzzer to give the Rams a 39-34 lead at the break.
 
• Fordham used a 12-2 run early in the second, finished off by a Schulte three, to take its largest lead of the day, 51-38, with 16:22 left.
 
• The Ram offense then got cold as St. Bonaventure battled back to take a six-point lead, 61-55, with 8:22 on the clock.
 
•But the Rams didn't back down, erasing a 63-58 deficit with an 11-5 run to take a 69-68 lead on a Reaves layup with 3:07 remaining.
 
• The score was tied at 74 with 547 seconds left when Henry nailed two free throws to give the Rams the lead for good, 75-74.
 
Notes
• Reaves had six assists, tying his career-high, to go with his 31 points, with no turnovers.
 
• Junior forward Rikus Schulte is averaging 12.3 ppg and points 10.7 rpg over the last 13 games with seven double-doubles during that time frame.
• Schulte is shooting .604 (67-111) over that stretch and .589 (83-141) on the season.
 
• Senior guard Christian Henry is averaging 6.5 apg over his last eight, including tying his career-high with nine today.
 
• Sophomore center Jack Whitbourn is averaging 15.3 ppg and 10.0 rpg over the last four, shooting .572 (20-35) from the field.
 
• Christian Henry returned to the lineup but Fordham was without the services of sophomore guard Ryan Pettis, redshirt freshman forward Abass Bodija, and freshman forward Roor Akhuar due to injuries.
 
• The Rams outscored the Bonnies, 17-9, from the free throw stripe.
 
• The game featured the top two rebounders in the Atlantic 10: St. Bonaventure's Frank Mitchell entered the game leading the conference (11.1) while Fordham's Rikus Schulte was second (10.4). Each player recorded five rebounds today.
 
• The Rams were outrebounded for just the fourth time this year.
 
• Fordham has taken three of the past four meetings with the Bonnies at St. Bonaventure.
 
• Fordham and St. Bonaventure will meet again on Feb. 7 in the Rose Hill Gym.
 
By the Numbers
9 – Assists for Christian Henry, tying his career-high.
 
9 – Steals for Fordham.
 
31 – Points for Dejour Reaves, a career-high (previous high was 30 which he did twice).
 
40 – Points in the paint for the Rams.
 
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play by traveling to St. Louis, Mo., to take on the Saint Louis University Billikens on Wednes­day, January 14, in Chaifetz Arena at 8:00 p.m. (EST)
 
• It will be the 22nd meeting between the Rams and the Billikens.
 
• The Billikens lead the all-time series, which started in 1971-72, 17-4, but the Rams have taken the past two of the past three meet­ings.
 
• Saint Louis took last year's meeting, 88-63, on December 31 in the Rose Hill Gym behind 33 points and eight rebounds from Gibson Jimerson.
 
• The Rams won the 2023-24 matchup, 67-65, in St. Louis as Eli­jah Gray hit a jumper with two seconds remaining and Kyle Rose led all scorers with 26 points.