Fordham Comes Up Short To LIU

FROM FORDHAM UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

Men’s Basketball Falls to LIU, 60-57; Ram offense goes cold in second half

The Fordham University men’s basketball squad had it chances tonight but the Ram offense went cold in the second half allowing Long Island University Brooklyn to rally back late in the game for a 60-57 win over Fordham in the Rose Hill Gym on Sunday night.

With the loss, Fordham closes out its non-conference slate with a 9-4 record while LIU evens its record at 6-6.

Junior guard Antwon Portley led the Rams with 18 points, with 16 of those coming in the first half, while freshman guard Nick Honor added 14 points and a game-high five assists.

The Rams led for most of the game until a pair of Raiquan Clark free throws gave the Blackbirds a 58-57 lead with 1:07 remaining.

The Rams had a chance to take the lead but a Jesse Bunting layup rolled out at the 41-second mark and then Bunting missed a pair of free throws with five seconds left. Clark was fouled on the rebound and hit both charity shots to give LIU the 60-57 win.

Credit: Fordham Athletics

Fordham led by ten at the break, 36-26, thanks to an Honor buzzer-beating three, but the Blackbirds cut the lead to three, 36-33, early in the second half. But an 11-2 Fordham run gave the Rams their largest lead of the night, 47-35, following an Onyi Eyisi layup with 15:23 remaining.

The Fordham offense then went cold, scoring ten points over the final 15 minutes.

Takeaways

• Nick Honor has scored in double figures in all 13 games this year.

• Antwon Portley has scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and the ninth time overall this year.

• It was the first loss this year for the Rams when committing fewer turnovers than their opponent (LIU committed 18 turnovers to just five for the Rams).

• Fordham falls to 2-3 this season in games decided by three points or less.

• LIU entered the game averaging over 28 three-point attempts per game but attempted only 12 tonight.

• The Rams went through the non-conference season without losing back-to-back games for the first time since 2015-2016.

By the Numbers

4 – Blocks by Fordham, who entered the game averaging 4.4 blocks/game.

5 – Turnovers by the Rams, a season-low.

9 – Non-conference wins for the Rams, the most since 2015-2016 and the third most in a season for Fordham.

18 – LIU turnovers forced by Fordham.

27 – Rebounds by the Rams, tying a season-low.

38 – Field goals attempted by LIU, a season-low for a Fordham opponent.

What’s Next?

• The Rams will open the 2019 Atlantic 10 season by hosting the VCU Rams on Saturday, January 5, in the Rose Hill Gym at 2:00 p.m.

• It will be the tenth meeting between Fordham and VCU on the hardwood.

• VCU lead the all-times series, 8-1, and have taken the last two meetings, 76-63 in Richmond last December and 83-58 in the Rose Hill Gym last March.

• VCU won the first six meetings before Fordham took a 69-67 overtime win last January in the Rose Hill Gym.

• VCU is in its sixth year as a member of the Atlantic 10 conference.