Fordham men’s basketball extends their loss streak to six after a neck-and-neck battle against the Loyola University Chicago Ramblers on Wednesday, Jan. 22. The matchup followed last week’s disappointing loss in triple overtime against the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and while Fordham brought all the momentum they had for the needed win in Chicago, they ultimately fell short to the Ramblers 66-70.
Marking the first matchup without Rams Head Coach Keith Urgo amid his four-game suspension, Associate Head Coach Tray Woodall took control of the team. To begin, Loyola came out aggressively with a physical defense, pressuring the Rams into giving a disorderly offensive performance, but they quickly adjusted their game. While remaining a tight matchup, Fordham was in the lead for most of the first half as they persistently succeeded in recovering rebounds (a significant improvement shown to be made during their bye week) and getting the ball up the court.
Defensively, the Rams played an impressive game, most notably when they switched to zone a little more than halfway through the first, effectuating a four-minute scoring drought for the Ramblers. However, as the Rams continued displaying drive, the Ramblers most often had a response. In addition to the team forcing multiple turnovers and displaying vigorous defense from the first few minutes on, Loyola’s star fifth-year guard Sheldon Edwards Jr. led his team into breaking down the notable zone, tying the game towards the end of the first half and scoring from behind the arc in a crucial moment. The first half concluded with the Ramblers up 34-31.
Starting the second half, the Rams came out strong, forcing four turnovers and scoring the first eight points (four of which were earned by senior guard Jackie Johnson III) in the first two and a half minutes, making the lead 39-34. The Rams stayed ahead for a large majority of the half, with Johnson, senior guard Japhet Medor and junior forward Josh Rivera leading in points. However, around the 8:30 mark, after Rivera scored a layup to bring the Rams back up by four, Loyola had a ten-point scoring run led by senior forward Jalen DeLoach and junior guard Jalen Dawson.
With around 4:00 remaining on the clock, Fordham’s Johnson and Medor got the game back to a one-possession game for a final time with free-throw shots and a bucket, but Loyola held onto the lead. The closest the score got again was with a three earned by Rivera at the buzzer. The game ended 70-66, improving Loyola’s record to 12-7 overall, 3-3 in the Atlantic 10 and compounding Fordham’s to 8-11, 0-6 in the conference.
Johnson and Medor both ended with 22 points and Rivera with 12. Forwards Romad Dean and Matt Zona and guard-forward Jahmere Tripp lead in rebounds, with 13 all together.
In a remarkably close and consistently even game, with the largest lead for either team being only seven, Fordham displayed improvements from their last game but just fell short of the win. The Rams add two games to their record this week and look to bounce back with a home and away matchup against the Duquesne University Dukes and the La Salle University Explorers.
