Bronx, N.Y. – Ninety-seven years ago today, Popeye made his first appearance in the comic strip
Thimble Theater. Even though he first got his strength and powers from rubbing a whiffle hen's head, he later became synonymous with spinach. Today it seemed as if the Duquesne men's basketball squad enjoyed some of the leafy greens with its pregame meal as the Dukes defeated Fordham, 74-63, in an Atlantic 10 contest in the Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 10-9 overall, 1-5 in the Atlantic 10, while Duquesne improves to 10-8 overall, 2-3 in the conference.
The Rams were led by grad student guard
Dejour Reaves, who scored a team-high 17 points while junior forward
Akira Jacobs added 13 pints and five rebounds. Senior guard
Christian Henry also finished in double figures with ten points to go with four assists and junior center
Jack Whitbourn grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds..
How it Happened
• After falling behind 22-10 eleven minutes into the game, Fordham went on a 15-1 run to narrow its deficit to 25-23, following a Whitbourn tip-in with 4:16 left in the half.
• Duquesne took a 30-27 lead at the break and increased it to six on a three-pointer 25 seconds into the second half.
• The Dukes three started a 9-3 run as Duquesne extended the lead to nine, 39-30, four minutes later.
• Fordham answered with a 7-0 spurt to shrink the deficit to 39-37 on an Abass Bodega three-point play with 11:20 to go in the contest.
• Duquesne responded and outscored the Rams 16-6 over the next six minutes to take a 55-43 lead and the closest the Rams would get from there was seven, 62-55, on Jacobs driving layup with 2:09 remaining.
Notes
•
Dejour Reaves, who entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring (17.5 ppg), has scored in double figures in all 18 games he has appeared in this year.
•
Jack Whitbourn is averaging 11.5 rpg over the past six games.
•
Akira Jacobs is shooting .421 (8-19) from behind the arc over the past three games.
• Redshirt freshman
Abass Bodija returned to action for the Rams after missing five games with an injury, scoring seven points and adding six rebounds.
• Fordham scored 36 of its 63 points in the paint.
• The Rams outrebounded the Dukes, 44-36, the 15th time this year Fordham has outrebounded an opponent.
• Duquesne entered the game fourth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring offense (85.1 ppg) but were held to 74 today.
By the Numbers
4 – Three-pointers made by the Rams, tying a season-low.
13 – Turnovers forced by the Rams
15 – Rebounds for
Jack Whitbourn, a season-high and one shy of his career-high.
19 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams, the 15th time this year Fordham has recorded double figures for offensive rebounds.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play by traveling to Davidson, N.C., to face the Davidson College Wildcats on Wednesday, January 21, in Belk Arena at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 23rd meeting between Fordham and Davidson on the hardwood.
• The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 18-4, including winning both of last year's meetings, 74-64 at Davison on January 11 as Reid Bailey scored a game-high 23 points and Connor Kachera added 20 for the Wildcats while
Jackie Johnson III and
Japhet Medor each netted 20 for the Rams, and 80-69 on February 22 in the Rose Hill Gym behind 20 points and 13 rebounds from Bobby Durkin while Johnson finished with 21 for the Rams.
Portions of this article were created using technology provided by
Data Skrive.
