By DAN GARTLAND
It was a tale of two halves: In the first, Fordham hung tight with VCU, and trailed 34-32 at the break; in the second, the visiting Rams showed why they have built up a 21-7 record this season, opening the second half on a 31-10 run that buried the home Rams.
“You come out at halftime and you always talk about the first five minutes [of the second half],” Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said. “You have to match their intensity, you have to match their toughness, and we didn’t do that. That’s why there are where they are right now and we are where we are.”
As he often does, Pecora blamed the loss, in part, on a lack of effort.
“There’s been two major issues, I think,” he said. “One has been getting that kind of team effort for 40 minutes consistently… and our offensive field goal percentage … We got some really good looks, and if you’re going to beat VCU, you have to make those shots.”
Junior center Ryan Canty was one player who showed consistent effort throughout the game for Fordham. He collected 10 rebounds and blocked four shots in 21 spirited minutes of action.
“He’s giving us that energy, and we’re not getting that from [Ryan] Rhoomes and [Travion] Leonard as much,” Pecora said. “He didn’t defend the post well; he was playing behind [Juvonte] Reddic, but he rebounds the basketball, he blocks shots, so he gives us another dimension.”
Pecora was also less than thrilled with the attendance, officially listed at 2253.
“I was disappointed in the crowd,” said. “I thought we’d get a better crowd for VCU tonight. You’d think people would want to see [a team that] was in the Final Four a few years ago.”
The loss dropped Fordham to 9-17 overall, and 2-11 in the conference. With three games left in the regular season, Pecora is still looking for ways to improve.
“They’re a gritty team and we’re not right now, and that’s our biggest problem, I think,” he said. “I thought we’d get some grit from our frontcourt guys but it’s not happening right now, so we have to find that if we’re going to find another couple wins.”
Dan Gartland is a staff writer. You can follow him on twitter @DanGartland.
