Bronx, N.Y. – Fordham head coach is a fan of the Dave Matthews Band. In their tune, "Stead as We Go" Matthews sings "Troubles they may come and go but good times never go, If the road gets rocky girl just steady as we go". It's a reassuring and optimistic message about navigating life's challenges together. Tonight, his Fordham team navigated some challenges in the historic Rose Hill Gym but remained steady as the Rams upended La Salle University, 64-58, in an Atlantic 10 contest to give Magpayo his 100
th career head coaching win.
With the win, Fordham snaps a three-game losing streak and improves to 11-10 overall, 2-6 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle falls to 7-14 overall, 3-5 in the conference.
Junior forward
Akira Jacobs led the Rams with 13 points, hitting tree three-pointers, and he added five rebounds while grad student guard
Dejour Reaves added eleven points, including a jumper wit13 seconds remaining to give Fordham a 62-58 lead, and he grabbed eight rebounds and dished out four assists.
How it Happened
• The Rams fell behind early, trailing by ten, 21-11, midway through the first half but then outscored the Explorers 10-2 over the next five minutes to trim the La Salle lead to two, 23-21, on a
Christian Henry jumper with 5:27 remaining.
• A La Salle three bumped the Fordham deficit to five before a Reaves jumper followed by a pair of
Louis Lesmond threes as the Rams took their first lead of the night, 30-26, at the 2:16 mark.
• The Explorers closed out the half with a 6-2 spurt to take a 34-32 lead at the break.
• Fordham opened the second half with a 10-3 run to take a five-point lead, 42-37, following a Jacobs three-pointer three minutes into the half.
• La Salle came back to retake the lead, 46-44, with 13:43 left and the Explorers would lead by three, 58-55, with just under six minutes remaining.
•
Roor Akhuar tied the game for Fordham with a three-pointer 27 seconds later before Henry gave the Rams the lead for good, 60-58, on a steal and layup three minutes later.
• The Explorers had four shots over the next 2:28 before Reaves drove and pulled up for a 15-footer to put the Rams up four,62-58, with 13 ticks left on the clock.
Notes
•
Dejour Reaves has scored in double figures in all 20 games he has appeared in.
• Reaves, who entered the Atlantic 10 leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring (17.7 ppg), is averaging 19.3 ppg over the last seven games.
•
Akira Jacobs is shooting .444 (12-27) from behind the arc over the past five games, averaging 10.8 ppg over that stretch.
•
Christian Henry, who entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in assists (5.3/game), is averaging 5.4 apg over his last eleven.
• All nine players who appeared in the game for Fordham scored.
• Freshman
Roor Akhuar returned to action after missing the six games with an injury.
• Fordham won despite being outscored 14-8 from the free throw strips.
• The game was the annual Coaches vs. Cancer game as the Fordham coaching staff wore sneakers with their suits.
• Fordham had a 39-37 edge on the boards in the win, outrebounding the opponent for the 16
th time this year.
By the Numbers
8 – Rebounds for
Dejour Reaves, a season-high.
11 – Offensive rebounds for Fordham, the 16
th time this year the Rans recorded double figures in offensive rebounds.
17 – Assists for the Rams on 24 made shots.
22.2% - La Salle's three-point shooting percentage (4-18).
24.1% - The Explorers' field goal percentage in the second half (7-29) after La Salle shot 43.3 (13-30) in the first half.
100 – Career head coach wins for
Mike Magpayo, who arrived at Fordham with 89 wins at UC Riverside.
722 – All-time wins for the Rams in the Rose Hill Gym.
1,588 – All-time wins for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play by traveling to the Nation's Capital to face the George Washington University Revolutionaries in the Smith Center on Saturday, January 31, at 2:00 p.m.
• It will be the 46th meeting between Fordham and George Washington on the hardwood.
• The Revolutionaries lead the all-time series, which started in the 1914-15 season, 32-13 but the Rams have taken three of the past four.
• GW took last year's meeting, 81-58, on March 5 in the Rose Hill Gym as Rafael Castro scored 16 points and added eight rebounds for the Revolutionaries while
Jackie Johnson III led all scorers in the game for the Rams with 19.
• The GW win last year snapped a three-game Fordham winning streak in the series, including a wild 119-113 triple overtime game in Washington, D.C., in 2023-24 on Jan. 3 as
Japhet Medor scored 24 points and Antrell Charlton added 22 for the Rams.
Portions of this article were created using technology provided by
Data Skrive.
