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Fordham Shows All on Defense, Lands 8-seed in A-10 Tournament

📸 Photo Credit: Robert Rizzo/Latino Sports Bronx, New York- On Saturday afternoon, the Fordham Rams defeated George Washington University in a final of 70-66 at Rose Hill Gym. As the Rams defense stepped up in the second half, Fordham was able to pull off a nail biter. The Rams season leading scorer, Darius Quisenberry finished with 18 points and Josh Colon-Navarro (Carolina, Puerto Rico) totaled 13 points on the day. On three ferocious blocks, Chuba Ohams ended up being the ultimate factor in this affair. This Fordham Rams squad shows no type of quit.  The home-grown talent out of the Bronx, Chuba Ohams continues to show he is a top tier forward across the NCAA. Ohams finished the afternoon with 23 points, 16 boards, and 5 assists. He nearly had a double-double in the first half, totaling 10 points and 9 rebounds at halftime. This now marks 20 double-doubles in his last 27 games. To add to his impact, Ohams completed a put back dunk that left the Rams home crowd in shock and stunned with excitement.  The George Washington Colonials ended the first half on 60% shooting from behind the arc (6-10). GWU led in the half, 36-34. Fordham woke up on defense, literally. The Rams forced a five-minute scoreless stretch during the second half. Through constant full court presses and effort plays by sophomore Antrell Charlton and Josh Colon-Navarro. Fordhams’ clutch defensive stops showed, when they needed it most.  Fordham head coach Kyle Neptune went in depth on the team’s mindset coming out of halftime. “I thought our guys, to their credit, came out with an extremely focused start to the half. And sustained it throughout. They made their runs. They threw their punches and our guys took it. And just kept coming, so I’m really proud of them for that.” Fordham had their hands full in defending Colonials, James Bishop. He tied with Fordhams, Darius Quisenberry for third leading scorer in the Atlantic-10 conference at 16.8 points per game. The Rams held Bishop to just eight points on 3-12 shooting from the field. The Colonials finished the regular season with a 12-17 record (8-9 in Atlantic-10 conference play). 

📸 Photo Credit: Robert Rizzo/Latino Sports

In Neptune’s first year as head coach, Fordham finished the regular season with a 15-15 record (8-10 in Atlantic-10 conference play). The Rams look to build off their defensive showings from the past three games. This week has shown to be a positive footstep in gaining momentum.  Neptune stated postgame: “The goal will always be to be playing our best basketball by the end of the year. I think we’re doing that. I’m proud of the way our guys have competed, definitely in this game. In the tournament, it’s do or die now. So we just gotta keep it going.“  Heading to D.C., the Rams are the 8-seed in the A-10 conference tournament. They will face off against 9th-seed George Mason on Thursday March 10th at noon. In their previous matchup this season, Fordham beat the George Mason Patriots in a close one, 50-49 on February 20th. The winner of this matchup advances to the quarterfinals to meet #1 seed Davidson, who finished 25-5 on the season. Fordham looks to keep the momentum going  in the A-10 tournament.  This upcoming Wednesday, March 9th tune into the start of the tournament on ESPN+. The rest of the tournament (Thursday-Sunday) will be aired on national television outlets such as USA Network and CBS Sports Network. All games will take place at Capital One Arena. Robert Rizzo Social Media Instagram: @Rrizzo4 Twitter: @drizzyrizz
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