Bronx, N.Y. – Yesterday, Christians celebrated Three Kings' Day, a day that commemorates the wise men who visited baby Jesus, recognizing him as divine, and honoring him with gifts. The Fordham men's basketball program isn't looking for gold (kingship) or frankincense (divinity), but a little myrrh (mortality) may be nice in the form of healthy student-athletes. Dressing only seven scholarship plays due to injuries, the Rams were knocked off by George Mason University, 67-58, in the historic Rose Hill Gym.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 9-7 overall, 0-3 in the Atlantic 10, while George Mason improves to 15-1 overall, 3-0 in the conference.
Grad student guard
Dejour Reaves led the Rams with 16 points and five assists while sophomore center
Jack Whitbourn added a career-high 14 points and six rebounds. Junior forward
Rikus Schulte led all rebounders for Fordham with a career-high 16.
How it Happened
• After falling behind 11-10, Fordham went on a 10-0 run with 8:56 left in the first half, culminating in a bucket from
Kingston Price, to take a 20-11 lead three minutes later.
• The Patriots outscored the Rams 12-8 over the final five minutes of the first half as the Rams took a 28-23 advantage into the break.
• George Mason whittled away at the Fordham lead, eventually taking a 34-33 lead five minutes into the second half.
• The Patriots increased the lead to 12, 59-47, before Fordham went on a 5-0 run to shrink the deficit to 59-52 on a Reaves three-point play with 1:23 to go in the contest but that was as close as the Rams would get.
Notes
•
Rikus Schulte is averaging 12.2 ppg and 11.2 rpg over the last 12 games.
• Schulte is shooting .610 (61-100) over that stretch and .592 (77-130) on the season.
•
Dejour Reaves has scored in double figures in all 14 games he has appeared in this year.
• The Rams fell despite outrebounding the Patriots, 41-34.
• Fordham was outscored 20-6 from the free throw line.
• Fordham was without the services of senior guard
Christian Henry, sophomore guard
Ryan Pettis, redshirt freshman forward
Abass Bodija, and freshman forward
Roor Akhuar due to injuries.
• Fordham relied on its three-point shooting in the first half, knocking down four shots to account for 12 of its 28 points.
By the Numbers
9 – Points for
Kingston Price, a career-best.
9.1% - George Mason's three-point shooting percentage (1-11).
14 – Points for
Jack Whitbourn, a career-high (previous high was 12 against Richmond on Sunday.
16 – Rebounds for
Rikus Schulte, a career-high (previous high was 14 which he accomplished twice, most recently at Dayton on Dec. 31).
19 – Offensive rebounds for the Rams, the 13th time Fordham has recorded double figures in offensive rebounds this year.
What's Next?
• The Rams continue Atlantic 10 play by traveling to St. Bonaventure, N.Y., to take on the St. Bonaventure University Bonnies on Saturday, January 10, in the Reilly Center at 12:00 p.m.
• It will be the 53rd meeting between Fordham and St. Bonaventure on the hardwood.
• The Bonnies lead the all-time series, which started in the 1955-56 season, 34-18 (two St. Bonaventure wins in 2002-03 were later forfeited for use of an ineligible player).
Potions of this article was created using technology provided by
Data Skrive.
