College basketball is a sport of highs and lows.
After Fordham University Men’s Basketball delivered an iconic victory over Seton Hall University last Saturday at the buzzer, the Rams returned to the Bronx on Tuesday and initially kept their high going with a 78-63 win over Binghamton University.
The 100th season at the Rose Hill Gym opened with a bang as senior guard Jackie Johnson III led the way for the Rams once again, delivering 23 points on 8/12 shooting to provide a worthy encore to his game-winner at Seton Hall. Fordham’s student section, known as “The Hill,” was packed full as the Rams smothered Binghamton defensively, forcing 18 turnovers and recording nine steals as a team.
Fordham head coach Keith Urgo opted to implement an aggressive full-court press throughout most of the game. Although the Rams were over-eager in some moments defensively (they committed six fouls as a team in the opening four minutes of the second half), Fordham’s press prevented Binghamton from ever looking comfortable on offense.
“We want to create a little bit of chaos,” said Urgo after the game regarding his team’s defensive performance. “With our athletes and our speed and our depth it gives us an advantage… For the most part, especially in the first half, I thought our traps were excellent.”
Secondary scoring was also key for the Rams. Senior guard Zach Riley tied a career-high with 11 points, including a trio of first-half 3-pointers that energized the Rose Hill crowd. Junior Romad Dean delivered a season-high 10 points, while graduate student Matt Zona was able to make his first major offensive contributions as a Ram with nine points of his own.
With two wins in a row under their belt and momentum building, the Rams headed to Manhattan University to take on the Jaspers in the annual Battle of the Bronx on Friday. However, Draddy Gymnasium was where those positive vibes stopped. In the 115th meeting between Fordham and Manhattan since 1911-12, the Rams played their worst game of the season thus far.
Despite a late flurry, Fordham fell to Manhattan 78-76. The score is a little misleading as this edition of the Battle of the Bronx was not a back-and-forth affair. Manhattan led the entire way and was up by as many as 17 with 3:30 to go. But the Rams nearly pulled off a miraculous comeback thanks to 12 points from senior guard Japhet Medor in the final 1:30, including nine in the last 30 seconds.
Junior guard Will Richardson even made a half-court shot at the buzzer, but the Rams were down by five at that point. Their late push ultimately proved to be too little, too late.
Besides the last three minutes or so, Fordham played an uneven game on both ends of the floor. Defensively, the Rams had no answer for Manhattan freshman Will Sydnor. Sydnor dominated in the paint all night long against Zona and graduate student forward Abdou Tsimbila, scoring a game-high 24 points on 9-14 shooting. As a team, Manhattan registered 38 paint points to Fordham’s 28, a number that looked much worse before Fordham’s late push.
Just like they did against Binghamton, Fordham were aggressive in their full-court pressure. But Manhattan head coach John Gallagher was well-prepared for the press, and the Jaspers were able to consistently move the ball up-court without any difficulties. In the halfcourt, Fordham tried man-to-man defense and several different zone looks to no avail.
On offense, the Rams experienced similar struggles. Zona, Richardson and senior forward Josh Rivera all had off nights shooting the ball. Johnson III finished with 21 points on 8/19 from the field but was inefficient throughout large stretches of the game. Nothing looked quite right for Fordham on the offensive end of the floor, despite the numbers at the end of the game not being terrible.
The main bright spot for the Rams was the play of Medor. One of Fordham’s main offensive weapons last season, Medor entered Friday averaging just seven points on 18% shooting from the floor. He broke out in a major way against Manhattan, delivering a team-high 23 points on 8-15 from the field and 6/8 from deep. It’s a great sign for the Rams if Medor is able to turn a corner offensively and provide another scoring threat.
Losing a Quad 4 game in which you were favored by 8.5 points obviously isn’t a good result for Fordham Men’s Basketball. It stings even more considering it was a rivalry game. Sure, the late comeback attempt can provide something to build on, but Fordham is going to have to play better than they did against Manhattan in nearly all facets of the game if they want to be successful this season.
And if anyone thought this non-conference schedule was going to be easy following Johnson III’s heroics against Seton Hall, this Manhattan game should serve as a wake-up call.
The Rams now sit at 2-2 on the season. They’ll look to bounce back on Tuesday against Georgian Court University, followed by another Rose Hill matchup with Drexel University on Friday.
