By Alvin Halimwidjaya
After Fordham’s much-needed victory over Massachusetts, the men’s basketball team fell back into the loss column with a blowout 73-50 loss to the St. Louis Billikens. The Rams are now last in the A-10 at 2-8 and 7-15 overall, and St. Louis broke past .500 in-conference, now sporting a 6-5 record.
Fordham’s lineup has been decimated by injuries, and the wear and tear of the season has taken its toll on the team’s performance. They shot 34 percent from the field and 29 percent from beyond the arc, while St. Louis ended up shooting 45.5 percent from long distance and attempting 33 free throws. Junior guard Joseph Chartouny led the team in scoring with 11 points; however, he had no assists and no steals for the first time in his career. Sophomore guard Cavit Havsa chipped in with 10 points and four assists, while freshman forward Ivan Raut and junior forward Prokop Slanina had nine points each as well as eight and five rebounds, respectively.
Senior guard Will Tavares had an uncharacteristically frigid night shooting the ball, only scoring six points to go with eight rebounds and not making any of his six free throw attempts. Senior guard Perris Hicks was also caught up in the slump, missing all of his six shots from the field, including four from three-point range. Senior walk-on forward Chris Downing played a career-high 14 minutes and scored four points.
On the Billikens’ side, swingman Javon Bess scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, forward Jalen Johnson scored 14 points and forward Hasahn French added 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Rams hung tough early in the game, keeping the margin close and eventually cutting it to four with 5:40 left in the first half, courtesy of a Downing putback basket. However, St. Louis went on a 15-0 tear and ended the first period with a comfortable 37-18 lead. Fordham tried to start a run in the second half, cutting the lead down to 12 with a three-pointer from Raut and making it 47-35 with 11:45 remaining in the contest. However, the Billikens pushed the lead back to 20 before Fordham would score again with 7:48, effectively ending the game. Despite this beatdown, the Rams remain optimistic and are choosing to move on and look towards their next game.
“I think the best way to move on is to just stick together,” Havsa said. “Each game is a new game, and we will fight the best we can in each one. It is important after a tough loss to keep working harder and stay positive. Every day is a new opportunity… in the game coming up, we are definitely focusing on defense, rebounding, transition offense, and not turning the ball over.”
Fordham’s next matchup comes against the George Mason University Patriots at home in the Rose Hill Gym. The two A-10 teams will face off on Wednesday, Feb. 7 at 7:00 p.m.
