PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The name Heinz is synonymous with the city of Pittsburgh. And when you think of Heinz you think of ketchup in those tall glass bottles. But like many people, you may have issues getting the red sauce out of the bottle and onto your fries. One of the supposed secrets is he "57 trick" which involves tilting the bottle at just the right angle and firmly tap the area where "57" is engraved into the glass. After a slow first half, the Fordham men's basketball team was like a bottle of ketchup that was tapped on the "57" as the Rams roared back from a 24-point first half deficit but came up just short, falling to George Washington University, 66-62, in a second round of the 2026 Atlantic 10 Championship at the PPG Paints Arena.
With the loss, Fordham closes out the season at 17-15 while George Washington improves to 18-14.
Grad student guard
Dejour Reaves led all scorers in the game for Fordham, netting 23 points while also dishing out four assists while grad student guard
Marcus Greene finished with 12 points.
How it Happened
• Trailing by as many as 24 in the first half and by 21 at the break, 38-17, Fordham was again down by 20, 45-25, four minutes into the second half.
• The Rams then scored the next nine points to cut the deficit to eleven, 45-34, on a pair of
Rikus Schulte free throws with 13:16 left.
• The Revolutionaries got the lead back to 15, 51-36, with 10:59 remaining when Fordham used a 17-6 run to trim the George Washington lead to four, 57-53, following a Reaves three-point play at the 5:17 mark.
• The Revolutionaries bumped the lead back to six, 59-53, before a
Roor Akhuar three made it a three-point game, 59-56, with 3:37 left.
• The Rams would get the deficit down to two twice over the final 1:41, the last at 64-62, on another Reaves three-point play with 14 seconds remaining but that was as close as they could get.
Notes
• Grad student guard
Dejour Reaves, a second team All-Atlantic 10 selection, scored a game-high 23 points, his fourth 20-point game over the last six contests and his ninth of the season.
•
Dejour Reaves scored in double figures in all 31 games he appeared in this year.
• The 23 points tied for the eighth-most scored by a Ram at an Atlantic 10 Championship game
• Reaves shot 5-6 from the free throw line and closes out the season shooting 86.6% (103-119) from the charity stripe, the third best single season in school history.
• The 24-point first half deficit tied the largest deficit for the Rams this year (Fordham also trailed by 24 at Saint Louis on Jan.14).
• Fordham shot 64.0% (16-25) in the second half after shooting just 28.0% (7-25) in the first.
• The Rams had a streak of four straight years with a win at the Atlantic 10 Championship snapped.
By the Numbers
3 – Offensive rebounds for Fordham, a season-low.
9 – Rebounds for
Rikus Schulte, a team-high.
17 – Wins for head coach
Mike Magpayo this year, tied for the fifth-most for a first-year coach at Fordham
17 – First half points for the Rams, a season-low.
154 – Assists recorded by
Christian Henry this year, tied for seventh most in a season at Fordham.
554 – Points scored by
Dejour Reaves this year.
