Fordham Loses Final Home Game

Fordham Loses Final Home Game  

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 6- The Fordham Rams (9‐19, 4‐13) hosted their final game of the season at the Rose Hill Gym on their campus in the Bronx on Wednesday evening. The visitors, the Duquesne Dukes (11‐17, 6‐11) were contesting Fordham for a better seeding in the following week’s Atlantic‐10 Conference Championship.

Prior to the contest’s start, Fordham’s basketball seniors were saluted on the court. Two, Halilaj and Gaitley, of the four players underwent the difficult task of making the team as walk‐ons. Erando Halilaj, a Bronx native, joined the team this year and saw action in five games. DC Gaitley, son of Fordham’s women’s coach, played in six games. The communications major suffered several injuries which curtailed his playing time at Fordham. Nihad Musovic, a Fordham Prep grad, played in 11 contests in his four years at the university.

Bryan Smith played 113 games during his career at Fordham. The Brooklyn native is completing his college career very impressively. He appeared in every game this season, and started the last 13 at guard. Smith averaged 11 points per game in his latest nine contests. He scored his season high of 17 points against Duquesne.

Seniors Lauren Hutt, student assistant, and Nick Stanaj, team manager, were also honored for their service to the basketball program.

The Rams spurted to an early 7‐2 lead during the first two minutes of action. Eight unanswered points by the visitors gave the Dukes a 10‐7 advantage two minutes later. A 16‐11 lead by Duquesne was turned around as the Rams scored 14 straight points, keeping the Dukes scoreless for nearly seven minutes to move ahead, 25‐16 at 6:56. Fordham’s first double digit lead, 29‐18, at 6:04 evaporated by the close of the first half as the Dukes outscored Fordham, 20‐6, to lead 38‐35, at the half.

The Dukes began the second stanza almost exactly as they closed the first with a 20‐7 scoring run to take their largest lead of the game, 58‐42, with 10:58 remaining in the game. The 40‐13 scoring differential those 15 minutes decided the outcome as the Rams cut the advantage to single figures only once in the final 11 minutes. The Dukes were victorious, 81‐66.

Both teams had balanced scoring. Five of the Dukes scored in double figures; each of four players netted 16 points including L. G. Hill who came off the bench and in only 18 minutes scored 16 and grabbed seven rebounds. Four of Fordham’s starters scored in double digits paced by Smith who led with 17.

Fordham’s 17 offensive rebounds gave them access to 12 second chance points contrasted to two for the Dukes. The 12 Fordham turnovers allowed the Dukes to score 17 points from turnovers while Fordham only scored two.

Fordham’s coach Tom Pecora explained his disappointment with his team’s lack of effort during their final home game of the season, “We probably lost it yesterday during practice” where he felt his players were resistant to putting in sufficient effort. He told reporters, “Whether there’s two inches or two feet of snow, we’ll practice tomorrow.”

He also noted the same insufficient effort during the contest, “They [Duquesne] went to the foul line 25 times and we went eight. That shows you who played harder. Effort should be a given.”

Another reason Pecora cited for the loss was the absence of Eric Paschall. The freshman is fourth in the conference in scoring with an average of 16.5 points per game. Pecora stated that he was not replaced, “We lost our bounce without Eric.”

Both teams play one more regular season contests before entering the Atlantic‐10 Championship on March 12 at Barclay’s Center in Brooklyn.

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Fordham Women Edge Davidson on Senior Day

Fordham Women Edge Davidson on Senior Day

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, MARCH 2- The Fordham Rams women’s basketball team (19‐10, 11‐5) played its final basketball game of the regular season at The Rose Hill Gym on Fordham’s Bronx campus. Since it was the final home game of the season as well, the four graduating players were honored on the court prior to the contest.

After not starting a game in her first two injury affected years at Fordham, Emily Tapio started every game in her junior and senior seasons. The Brewster, New York native is the leading scorer on the team, averaging 12 points per game. Of even greater importance to her future life, the Business Administration major was named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll.

Another Business Administration major, Liz Milner of Cold Spring, New York was also named to the Atlantic 10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll. Milner has not seen action during the past two seasons because of a torn ACL she suffered prior to the 2013‐14 season. Despite her injury, she is always present at games and strongly supports her teammates.

Taryn Durant started 15 games this year after only one start during her first three years at Fordham. Coach Stephanie Gaitley praised the Psychology major after the final home game for her consistency on and off the court and remarked, “She is a joy to work with.”

Tiffany Ruffin is not a Fordham senior. She graduated from Boston College in 2013 and is currently working towards a Master’s degree in Media Management at Fordham. Ruffin has fit in easily and quickly with her teammates. She directs the Fordham offense as its point guard. Gaitley recognizes the importance of the newcomer and has said, “We will go as far as Tif does.”

The Davidson Wildcats (5‐24, 1‐15) were Fordham’s final regular season opponent. They entered the game with a 10-game losing streak, so most observers believed the Rams would have an easy win.

Although the visitors took a 4‐3 lead in the first minute of play, it was the final advantage for the Wildcats in the first half. Fordham then, as expected, dominated play with a 20‐6 scoring run, which gave the Rams a 23‐10 lead at 8:33. The half ended with Fordham leading, 31‐21.

A layup by Durant at 12:06 in the second half brought the Rams another double digit advantage. It appeared to many that the Rams would now coast to victory. The visitors then scored 12 unanswered points to take a 42‐40 lead with 7:14 remaining in the contest. The change in the game led Gaitley to remark after the game concluded, “We (Fordham) need to do a better job to stay composed during an opposing run.”

Fordham on the strength of its seniors, closed the contest with a 14‐4 scoring run to win, 54‐46. The three seniors who played, Tapio, Ruffin and Durant, scored 16 of Fordham’s final 18 points.

Gaitley looked upon the bright side of the surprisingly difficult contest, “This was actually good for us as the conference tournament is going to be a grind.”

Fordham finished the season fourth in the Atlantic‐10, thus, giving them a bye in the first two rounds of the conference championship, which begins on March 4. They will next play at 2 pm on March 6 in the quarter‐final round of the A‐10 Tournament.

#Fordham #Rams #Basketball #Bronxnews

Fordham Wins First Conference Game of the Season

Fordham Wins First Conference Game of the Season

#Fordham #Rams #Basketball #Bronxnews

By Howard Goldin

BRONX, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 9- A one-sided 83-65 win by the Fordham Rams (6-15, 1-9) over the Saint Louis Billikens (10-13, 2-8) on Saturday afternoon at  Rose Hill ended the nine-game winless streak of the Rams in Atlantic-10 Conference games this season. The campus gym was filled with Fordham enthusiasts, many of whom attended the annual Athletic Hall of Fame ceremony and luncheon earlier in the afternoon. 

The Fordham fans were cheering wildly as the Rams scored the first 12 points of the game. The visitors cut the deficit to two points by the mid-point of the first half after going on a 15-5 scoring run. Interestingly, the first points scored by a Saint Louis player were a three pointer by the only Bronx native on the court, Ash Yocoubou. 

The 6-4 junior is playing his first season with the Billikens after transferring from Villanova. The much travelled young man began his high school basketball years at the American Christian School on Pennsylvania before moving to Long Island Lutheran, where he was the Gatorade New York State Player of the Year in his senior season, 2011.

The Rams never lost the lead throughout the first half. The half ended with Fordham ahead by a score of 33-29.

Saint Louis scored the first four points of the second stanza to tie the score for the first and last time of the game at 19:06. Thirty-two seconds later, a free throw by Mandell Thomas gave Fordham the advantage again, which they never relinquished. A Fordham lead of 45-41 at 14:35 was followed by 11 unanswered points by Fordham that raised the advantage to 15 (56-41) with 11:16 left to play. 

The Rams’ advantage was cut to six, 58-52, at 8:54 after an 11-2 scoring run by the visitors. Fordham’s domination during the final nine minutes, 25-13, gave the Rams an easy win.

After the contest concluded, Fordham’s head coach Tom Pecora spoke of the reasons for his team’s victory, “We were the more aggressive team. They [Rams] went to the free throw line 39 times.” The 30 free throws and 39 attempts were both season highs for the Rams. The visitors only went to the charity stripe 16 times and sunk 12 shots. “We took care of the basketball, 11 turnovers. They really played under control.”  

The Rams only turned the basketball over four times in the second half. The Rams scored 50 in the second half on 66.7 percent from the floor. The Rams also controlled the boards, 33 rebounds to 24 for Saint Louis.

Fordham freshmen Eric Paschall and Chris Sengfelder led the scoring with 22 each. They are the only Division I freshman teammates who have averaged in double figures of points and more than five rebounds each per game. Pecora lauded them, “They’re not freshmen anymore; they’ve played so many minutes.” Sophomore Jon Severe (12) and Mandell Thomas (10) also scored in double digits for Fordham.

A freshman, Davell Roby, led the four double digit scorers on the Billikens with 16. The Bronx’s Yocoubou scored 10 to keep his season average to double figures (10.0 ppg.). 

Fordham travels to the University of Richmond for its next game on February 11. Saint Louis returns home to host Dayton on February 10.