Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s Cinderella Story?

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Fordham’s Cinderella Story?: Fordham’s Cinderella Story? Rams Win First Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Game Since 2007 By Howard Goldin BRONX NEWS, MARCH 13- As th...

Fordham’s Cinderella Story?

Fordham’s Cinderella Story?

Rams Win First Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Game Since 2007

By Howard Goldin

BRONX NEWS, MARCH 13- As this year’s Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament included all teams in the conference, the last place Fordham Rams were given an opportunity to participate. The Rams last took part in the tourney in 2008. Their most recent tournament victory was a 63-61 win over the Richmond Spiders in 2007. Thus, Fordham’s (10-20) defeat of the George Mason Patriots (11-20) on Wednesday night at Barclays Center was a source of pride and satisfaction to the team and staff, Fordham students, alumni and its fans.

A free throw by 6-8 junior Erik Copes of George Mason began the scoring. A jump shot by Brooklyn native Bryan Smith of the Rams gave Fordham its first advantage at 18:58. Fordham kept that lead throughout the game. An 18-9 scoring run by the Rams capped by a jumper by freshman Jon Severe at 11:32 raised the Fordham lead to double figures for the first time in the contest. Four times later in the first half the Rams reached their highest advantage of the contest, 11 points. The Rams led, 33-26, at the half.

Early in the second half, six unanswered points by Fordham allowed the Rams to again achieve an 11 point lead, 29-28, at 17:16. A 15-5 run by the Patriots mid-way through the second half cut the deficit to a single point , 48-47 with 9:02 remaining in the game. 

In the final minute of the game, nine players had opportunities from the free throw line. Five fouls were committed by George Mason with the hope of catching up to Fordham in the last 60 seconds. Four Patriots were also sent to the charity stripe by Fordham fouls even though the Rams were leading. 

Fordham coach Tom Pecora commented on his strategy, “I’m a convert [to fouling to prevent a basket from being scored]. You got to foul. They’re so good in shooting.” 

Free throws were a factor in Fordham’s 70-67 victory. In the first half, Fordham missed its only free throw attempt. In the second half, the Rams netted 21 of 31 from the charity stripe. In contrast, the Patriots only had 17 free throw attempts and sunk 11 of the shots, a 10 point disadvantage in a game they lost by three. Of the calls, Pecora said he advised his team, “Do everything hard. You can get the respect of the officials.”

Fordham controlled the boards, 50-42, thanks to the rebounding of Ryan Canty, who pulled down 19 boards. Pecora opined, “It was a career night for Ryan Canty. He’s a great rebounder.  Senior Branden Frazier surmised, “He [Canty] enjoys rebounding and the team feeds off that.” 

For Brooklyn natives Frazier and Smith of Fordham the trip home was very meaningful. Frazier remarked, “I grew up down the block. Being in Brooklyn helped us a lot.” Smith was especially pleased to see family and friends in the arena, “A lot of people who couldn’t come to Fordham to see me came here today.”

Of the two, Pecora said, “It took guts for them to come to Fordham. They were highly recruited.” 

Fordham advances to play the 5^th seed, the Dayton flyers, on Thursday afternoon. 

Tags: Fordham, Rams, Atlantic-10 Conference Tournament

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Picking Up the Pieces

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Picking Up the Pieces: Picking Up the Pieces Fire destroys 2 buildings in Morrisania By David Greene BRONX NEWS, MARCH 12- A long struggling community must onc...

Picking Up the Pieces

Picking Up the Pieces

Fire destroys 2 buildings in Morrisania

By David Greene

BRONX NEWS, MARCH 12- A long struggling community must once again pick up the pieces after a devastating fire destroyed two buildings and has closed two popular businesses and left several families homeless.

Fire officials were first called to the three-alarm blaze at the Pamela Deli, located at 781 E. 163 Street at 3:30 p.m. on March 6. Fire officials and witnesses at the scene reported flames and smoke pouring out from all three floors of the wood-frame structure, before an adjacent building also caught fire.

A third building suffered multiple broken windows, as well as smoke and water damage, as firefighters vented the building. The thick, black smoke could be seen billowing high above Tinton Avenue for several miles.

Kevin Hudson, who works at an adjacent SRO had just left work and was several blocks away when he saw the speeding fire trucks, when he raced back to his building to assist with the evacuation of the 51 residents.

As firefighters were just bringing the fire under control, Hudson said of his residents, "Everyone is fine, but there's a lot of smoke in the hallways." He concluded, "Everyone evacuated quickly, there use to it. We do drills every week."

Two firefighters suffered minor burns and were transported to local hospitals. Nearly 150 firefighters from 33 units, including one unit from as far away as New Jersey battled the flames for several hours. Firemen remained at the scene the rest of the night as fire flared-up several times.

The Department of Buildings would later deem the structure unsafe and the building would be torn down.

The building's owner Pamela Baez, who has run the popular deli for the better part of three-decades, has vowed to rebuild.

Tags: Fire, building

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bronx Ready for March Madness

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Bronx Ready for March Madness: Bronx Ready for March Madness Manhattan, Fordham, Advance to NCAA Tourney By Howard Goldin BRONX NEWS, MARCH 12- Representati...

Bronx Ready for March Madness

Bronx Ready for March Madness

Manhattan, Fordham, Advance to NCAA Tourney

By Howard Goldin

BRONX NEWS, MARCH 12- Representatives of the Bronx will be participants in March Madness of 2014 as the Manhattan Jaspers men and the Fordham Rams women automatically qualified for the NCAA National Tournament by virtue of winning their conference tournaments. 

The Manhattan Jaspers (25-7) reversed last year’s MAAC Tournament final result by defeating the 1^st seeded Iona Gaels by three points, 71-68, on Monday night, to advance to the NCAA National Tournament. The second seeded Jaspers advanced to the final contest by a win over Saint Peter’s and Quinnipiac in earlier rounds of the tourney.

The victory over Iona advanced the Jaspers into the true March Madness for the fourth time. They last were in the nationals a decade ago, 2004. Prior to that year, they were in the NCAA’s in 2003 and 1993. Interestingly, their current head coach, Steve Masiello was an assistant coach in the successes of 2003 and 2004. 

MAAC Tournament MVP George Beamon led Manhattan with 16 points and eight boards. Rhamel Brown scored 15. Shane Richards, with four from beyond the arc, scored 14. Emmy Andujar netted 12.

One day earlier the women hoopsters of Fordham University (25-7) captured the Atlantic-10 Tournament with a 63-51 victory over the 1^st seeded Dayton Flyers. This tournament title was the first for the Rams in the respected athletic conference. The Rams advanced to the National Tournament for the second time. Their last appearance was 20 years ago, 1994.

At 16:09, Dayton was up by 8-2. A jumper by senior Abigail Corning at 3:05 gave the Rams their first lead of the game. The Flyers, as they had for most of the first half, led at the half, 30-29.

The game was competitive throughput the early minutes of the second half. After a tie at 43 was broken by two free throws by Emily Tapio at 13:07, the Rams never again lost the lead. Stephanie Gaitley, the Fordham head coach, remarked, “They were very focused. Confidence grew as we came down the stretch.”

Three of the starters for Fordham achieved double-doubles. Erin Rooney scored 13 and grabbed 13 boards. Emily Tapio accomplished her fifth double-double in the past eight contests with 10 points and 12 rebounds. The A-10 Tournament MVP, Corning, scored 12 with 10 rebounds.

The seeding and location of play for Manhattan will br announced on Sunday and for Fordham will be announced Monday.

Tags: March Madness, NCAA National Tournament, Fordham Rams, Manhattan Jaspers 

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Crash & Burn

Bronx News (Bxnews.net): Crash & Burn: Crash & Burn Car Smashes into Parkchester Store Fire Destroys Leland Home (Photos by David Greene) By David Greene BRONX, NEW YORK, M...