Washington, D.C. – Last night after practice, the Fordham men's basketball team took a short bus tour of Washington, D.C. One of the buildings they passed was the National Academy of Science, which features a statue of Albert Einstein. In his day, Einstein was interested in the problem of Brownian motion, the observation that if you put tiny objects (like pollen) in water, they appear to jump around erratically. Einstein proposed that invisible particles were colliding with the pollen, causing it to move, and came up with a formula describing this phenomenon. That would be a great way to describe the George Washington University men's basketball offensive style of play as the Revolutionaries entered the game second in the Atlantic 10, averaging 85.3 ppg. But the Rams provide a corollary to Einstein's theory, interrupting the George Washington offense and pulling away for a 79-65 Atlantic 10 win at the Smith Center.
With the win, Fordham improves to 12-10 overall, 3-6 in the Atlantic 10, while George Washington falls to 13-9 overall, 4-5 in the conference.
Grad student guard
Dejour Reaves led the Rams with 19 points while also dishing out six assists, while senior guard
Christian Henry added 15 points and junior guard
Akira Jacobs finished with 13 points, hitting three three-pointers. Sophomore center
Jack Whitbourn chipped in with his third double-double of the year, scoring ten points and adding 12 rebounds.
How it Happened
• After falling behind 23-19, Fordham went on a 7-0 run with 5:01 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from Schulte, to take a 26-23 lead.
• The Rams then maintained that lead and entered halftime with a 34-31 advantage.
• Following intermission, Fordham kept widening that lead, expanding it to 67-60 before going on a 5-0 run to grow the advantage to 12, 72-60, on a Jacobs fast break dunk with 1:43 to go in the contest.
• The Rams kept expanding the margin and coasted the rest of the way for the 79-65 win.
Notes
•
Dejour Reaves has scored in double figures in all 21 games he has appeared in this year.
•
Akira Jacobs is shooting .455 (15-33) from behind the arc over past the six games, averaging 11.3 ppg over that stretch.
• Fordham did most of its first half damage in the paint, scoring 30 of its 34 points close to the basket.
• Fordham capitalized on eight George Washington turnovers in the second half, collecting 14 points off those turnovers.
• The Rams entered the game leading the Atlantic 10 in scoring defense, allowing just 65.0 ppg while George Washington entered the game second in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 85.3 ppg.
• Fordham outrebounded the Revolutionaries, 46-28.
• The game was quite the opposite of the last time the two teams played at the Smith Center, a 119-113 triple overtime win for the Rams.
• Former Ram Dan Blaine was in attendance as well as 2026-27 signee Frank Siaca Bey.
By the Numbers
9 – Steals for Fordham.
10 – Rebounds by
Rikus Schulte, his eleventh double-figure rebounding game of the year.
13 – George Washington turnovers forced by the Rams.
16 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams.
+20 –
Akira Jacobs +/- in the game, the highest for any Ram.
45 – Second half points scored by Fordham.
48 – Points in the paint for Fordham.
39.3% - George Washington's shooting percentage in the game (24-61).
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play by hosting the VCU Rams in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Tuesday, February 3, at 7:00 p.m.
• It will be the 17th meeting between Fordham and VCU on the hardwood.
• VCU leads the all-time series, 15-1, and has won the past eight meetings.
• VCU took last year's matchup, 73-61, in Richmond on Jan. 8 as Joe Bamisile scored 18 points and added eight rebounds for VCU while Jephat Medor led Fordham with 19 points and six rebounds.
Portions of this article were created using technology provided by
Data Skrive.
