Fordham Falters in A-10 Home Debut to La Salle

 by Joe Budzelek (@stf_ncaa)

Following nine lead changes in the first half, La Salle, despite a late second half surge from Fordham, defeated the Rams 81-to-76 Saturday afternoon at Rose Hill Gym.

An even match for most of the game, Fordham bottled up La Salle's excellent guard duo of Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus early in the first half, with the duo combining for just two points over the first eight minutes of the game. However, a late first half slouch by Fordham - marred by turnovers, easy buckets missed and settling for three-point attempts - allowed La Salle to take command.

“We had ten turnovers in the first half and that really killed us" said Fordham head coach Keith Urgo, "Especially to guards like [La Salle's Khalil Brantley and Jhamir Brickus]. Brickus got two of his threes, both of them in transition. If you take those two threes away, well, look at the score.”

At the start of the game, Fordham's offensive proclivity from the three-point line continued as the team has attempted nearly half of their shots from beyond the arc also throughout the previous three games. Hitting three of their first four three-point attempts, this strategy started fruitfully, but a two-for-ten finish in the first half left much to be desired. “We're trying to drive the ball and get to the paint. In the first half we were settling a little too much. In the second half, we got much more aggressive around the rim, going strong and being able to draw fouls.”

Sophomores Will Richardson (16 points; 4-7 from 2, 2-5 from the line) and Elijah Gray (18 points; 4-6 from the line) were instrumental in the Rams' second-half effort in becoming more assertive near the basket, but the team's overall 62% shooting from the charity stripe was a deciding factor.

For the second straight game in a row, Gray led the frontcourt in minutes played, scoring 40 points total in the pair of games: "[Elijah Gray has] been really consistent for us on and off the court. He’s such a mismatch, especially at the 4 and the 5 because he can pick and pop," says Urgo, “We’ve got a lot of guys playing minutes who have not necessarily done it at this level before so we just have to continue to grow and get better. We have to get to our identity which is defending and rebounding.”

Here's the good news: the Rams are producing on offense, scoring 75 or more points in eight of the last ten games. The bad news: Fordham has only won half of those games and only two of those wins have been against the A-10 (GW) or A-10 caliber talent (North Texas). 

“I’m not even concerned on the offensive end [...] If you score 76 points in the Atlantic 10, you should win that game, especially here at Fordham and the way we pride ourselves," laments Urgo, "For whatever reason, we’ve lost our identify and we’ve got to get back to that. [La Salle] out-toughed us. They got 15 offensive rebounds, they only average 8 and that, to me, was a big factor to the game.”

With students returning to campus just in time for Fordham's next home game against St. Bonaventure, their energy will look to fuel the Rams and add that extra layer of home court advantage. “We need that crowd to continue to grow and pick it up because we’re trying to build something sustainable," says Urgo, "Everyone remembers Rose Thrill, we need to play off of that.”