Many coaches preach the importance of playing a “full 40-minute game,” and Fordham Men’s Basketball once again learned that this sentiment carries more weight than a typical sports cliché.
Fordham fell to a 4-6 Atlantic 10 record following a 75-60 home loss against the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Rams last Wednesday night. Despite a strong first half, the boys from the Bronx could not carry their efforts over to the final 20 minutes, and were outplayed by a team with legitimate championship aspirations.
“They were very physical,” head coach Keith Urgo said of VCU after the game. “They guard the ball really well. We hit shots in the first half and we didn’t hit them in the second.”
Entering the contest, VCU held a 6-3 record and was coming off of a home win against the University of Dayton Flyers. The men in maroon played an inspired first half and only trailed by one at the break. As a team, they shot roughly 47% from range in the first act while attempting to keep VCU from finding their offensive footing on the other end.
Senior Japhet Medor and sophomore Will Richardson led the Fordham offense for the duration of the game. Medor scored a team-high 17 points in his first double-figure scoring outing since Jan. 13. Richardson provided 13 points on a 5-9 shooting clip.
However the visiting Rams scored the first nine points of the second half to take a 41-31 lead 3:44 into the frame. VCU played a tremendous team game. They shot around 57% from the field across the final 20 minutes and made nine total three-pointers. Graduate student Sean Bairstow and seniors Joe Bamisile and Max Shulga were particularly effective. In what was his first contest since Jan. 27, Bairstow collected 12 points and eight rebounds, Bamisile spaced the floor elegantly while notching 13 points and Shulga put up 13 points with a team-high 10 rebounds and seven assists.
“They played tougher than us in the second half,” said Urgo. “We have to work on not allowing the offensive end to affect the defensive end.”
Senior Kyle Rose and sophomores Elijah Gray and Josh Rivera struggled to score. They combined for 13 points and a 6-23 shooting night. Additionally, senior Antrell Charlton was held scoreless and only provided two assists.
Fordham struggled to recapture their first-half energy. Following an Abdou Tsimbila dunk that drew the home team within eight points with 14:44 to play, the visitors scored nine unanswered points to take a dominant 52-35 lead. Fordham would only ever cut the lead to 12 points from this moment on, and could generate a legitimate comeback.
An optimist would surely give the men in maroon credit for hanging around in the first half. A pessimist would harp on their lackluster second half. A realist would understand that until Fordham is able to consistently offer 40 minutes of intense play on both ends of the court, the outcomes may continue to vary.
“We have to be able to play a full 40 minutes as we move forward here,” said Urgo. “Because it doesn’t get any easier.”
