By Alvin Halimwidjaya
After a tough stretch of games, most involving losses, Fordham Men’s Basketball broke out and gained a little momentum with wins against George Mason and Duquesne this past week. The Rams brought their record up to 4-8 in the A-10 conference and 9-15 overall.
Fordham started their week with a much-needed win in a 67-66 nailbiter over George Mason on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at the Rose Hill Gym. Junior forward Prokop Slanina was at the forefront of the team’s efforts, pouring in a game-high 17 points, snagging five rebounds and playing stalwart defense to boot, tallying four blocked shots and three steals. Freshman swingman Ivan Raut played second fiddle with 16 points, while senior guard Will Tavares and junior guard Joseph Chartouny each chipped in with 11 points. Tavares also grabbed 11 rebounds, a career-high, and posted the first double-double of his career, while Chartouny played his usual role of pickpocket with five steals. Sophomore guard Cavit Havsa also had a solid game with nine points and eight assists.
George Mason took control of the game in the early going, using a 21-0 run to blow the lead out to 17 points, as a bucket by Patriots guard Justin Kier pushed the score to 25-8 with just over six minutes left in the half. However, the Rams struck back with seven points to end the first half, chipping away at the margin and heading to halftime with a 33-23 deficit.
The Patriots maintained their lead going into the second half, but after harboring a 48-41 lead with 11:14 left in the game, Fordham exploded on offense with a 17-8 spurt. Fighting back, 10 of the Rams’ 13 made three-pointers came in the second half, and they grabbed the lead from George Mason with a Raut bomb from downtown to take a 58-56 advantage with 6:06 left on the game clock.
After a back and forth struggle, the Patriots cut the lead to one, placing the score at 67-66 with 40 seconds remaining. The Rams turned the ball over on the other end of the court, giving George Mason a chance to take the game back, but Chartouny came through with a huge defensive stop, deflecting away a potential game-winning layup. Though Tavares missed a free throw to seal the win, George Mason’s half-court attempt fell short, giving the Rams a hard-fought comeback victory to add to their record.
“Being down 17 points at one point in the first half, nothing was going in our way,” Raut said. “Coach gave us a brief speech in the locker room, and told us that he believes that we can overcome any obstacle and come back in the second half and win the game. We just kept doing same things that we did in the first half, but with more energy and we were able to come back and get that important win on our home court.”
Going into their game against Duquesne on Saturday, Feb. 10, Fordham looked to capitalize on their win, and Raut delivered for them. In a contest without Chartouny, who sat out with an injury, the freshman marksman scored a career-high 25 points in an 80-57 blowout win over the Dukes. Raut went 8-11 from the field, knocking down 4-7 from long distance and adding six rebounds to his stat line. Tavares added his second career double-double with 15 points and 11 points, while Slanina scored 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and swatted away four shots. Senior guard Perris Hicks rounded out the majority of the scoring with 13 points, and Havsa put in another solid performance with nine points and six assists. However, the day belonged to Raut’s breakout performance, earning him an A-10 Rookie of the Week award.
“Duquesne is a really good defensive team,” Raut said. “They guard the perimeter pretty well. Coach [Neubauer] talked to me before the game and told me that I should play in the low post more. Our game plan in the beginning was to give me the ball in the low post and create from there. I was able to score a couple of easy baskets in the paint and [move] the ball to my teammates on the perimeter. We had a really good shooting percentage, and that is also one of the reasons why we came up with the win.”
The Rams shot 59 percent from the field, splashing 8-18 three-pointers and nailing 22-26 free throws to round out their hot shooting night. Fordham built a 17-9 lead to start the game, eventually using a 13-6 run to build a 30-18 lead with 2:04 left in the first half. After coming out of halftime with a 32-23 advantage, Raut knocked down consecutive threes to spark a 15-6 burst, pushing Fordham’s lead to 47-29 with just under 16 minutes left in the second half. The score ballooned to a 26-point margin in the Rams’ favor, as a Hicks basket from beyond the arc gave Fordham a 64-38 lead; their advantage would not drop to below 17 points for the rest of the game.
“At Duquesne, Ivan Raut was outstanding offensively,” head coach Jeff Neubauer said. “Defensively, our perimeter players did a good job of keeping the ball away from Duquesne’s guards. The defensive efforts of Brenton Petty, [Thomas] Sanchez and Chris Downing were crucial.”
After these two victories, Fordham’s next game will be against Saint Joseph’s at the Rose Hill Gym on Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:00 p.m.
“We are really happy and energized because we were able to get two wins in a row, even though our roster is shortened,” Raut said. “Our guys stepped up, and we are really confident coming into the next game against St.Joe’s.”
“Our team feels really proud of our effort at Duquesne,” Neubauer added. “[The game at Duquesne] was a terrific win. We know that we will be shorthanded the rest of the season and we are taking on the challenge.”