Philadelphia, Pa. - Following this afternoon's shootaround at La Salle, the Fordham men's basketball squad visited the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous by the fictional boxer Rocky who is honored with statues at the venue. Rocky once said "The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place..." and the Rams found that out tonight where despite a second half comeback Fordham fell to La Salle University, 87-84, in an Atlantic 10 game at Glaser Arena.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 16-14 overall, 7-10 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle improves to 9-21 overall, 5-12 in the conference
The Rams fell despite four players finishing in double figures, led by junior forward
Rikus Schulte, who scored a team-high 20 points and he grabbed eleven rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman
Abass Bodija finished with a career-high 19 points, shooting 8-for-13 from the field, while grad student guard
Dejour Reaves added 18 points and six rebounds, and freshman forward
Roor Akhuar netted 12 points.
How it Happened
• Fordham trailed by one, 85-84, following an Akhuar three with 45 seconds left and the Rams appeared to have take an 86-85 lead on a Reaves driving layup with 28 seconds left but Reaves was called for an offensive foul.
• After La Salle hit two free throws an Akhuar three just before the buzzer bounced out.
• Fordham trailed by nine at the half, 46-37, but opened the second half with a 10-5 run to cut the deficit to four, 51-47, on a Bodija driving layup two minutes in to the half.
• Later in the half a Reaves fast break layup off a La Salle turnover made it a two-point game, 55-53, with 15:34 remaining.
• The Rams would get the Explorer lead down to one twice over the next 1:20, the final at 59-58, on a Schulte tip in but La Salle responded with nine straight points to take a ten-point lead, 68-58, at the 12:42 mark.
• The Explorers led by nine, 72-63, midway through the half but the Rams went on a 10-0 run to take a 73-72 lead on a pair of
Christian Henry free throws with 7:06 on the clock.
• The Explorers managed to get the lead back to seven, 83-76, before Fordham closed the gap to one on Akhuar's three.
Notes
•
Dejour Reaves has scored in double figures in all 29 game she has appeared in this year.
•
Rikus Schulte's double-double was his eighth of the year, his first since the Richmond game in January.
• Fordham shot 50.0% (19-38) from the field in the second half compared to 36.9% (14-36) in the first.
• The Rams were outscored from the free throw line, 21-8.
• La Salle was the first Atlantic 10 opponent to score over its season average against Fordham this year.
• It was a noteworthy week for head coach
Mike Magpayo who was named a finalist for the
Skip Prosser Award on Tuesday and was named recipient of the
NABC Guardian of the Game Award for Inclusion on Wednesday.
• Besides being Senior Night for La Salle it was also Speedy Morris night as the Explorers honored their longtime head coach who led the Explorers from 1986-2001.
• Former Rams Albe Evans and
Brian Nussbaum attended the game.
By the Numbers
5 – Turnovers for the Rams, a season-low.
10 – Assists for
Christian Henry, a career-high (previous high was nine which he accomplished three times).
19 - Points for
Abass Bodija, a career-high (previous high was 15).
20 – Points scored by
Rikus Schulte, one shy of his career-high.
42 – Points in the paint for Fordham.
What's Next?
• The Rams close out the 2025-26 Atlantic 10 regular season by hosting the University of Rhode Island Rams in the historic Rose Hill Gym on Saturday, March 7, at 2:00 p.m.
• It will be the 79th meeting between Fordham and Rhode Island on the hardwood.
• Rhode Island leads the all-time series, which started in the 1941-42 season, 43-35.
• Fordham won this year's first meeting, 70-66 in overtime, in Kingston on February 14 as
Dejour Reaves netted 19 points and
Rikus Schulte added 17 and nine rebounds.
