Photo Courtesy Fordham Athletics
Fordham has been no stranger to roster adjustments so far this season. Following the game against St. Bonaventure, in which Darius Quisenberry went down with a leg injury, Fordham would once again have to readjust their style of play without their leading scorer. In their second game against Duquesne, Fordham doubled down on their intensity in the paint without Quisenberry. Ohams and Tsimbila once again formed the starting front court, while Josh Navarro, Kyle Rose, and Antrell Charlton rounded out the starting five.
In his fifth start in Fordham’s last five games, Kyle Rose was a major presence for the Rams right from tip. Scoring the game’s opening bucket on a driving layup, Rose set the tone for how intense Fordham would operate in the paint on both ends of the floor. With Quisenberry out, and his efficiency beyond the arc along with it, the Rams had to adjust to relying on post scoring. Luckily for Fordham, they had Duquesne well outmatched in terms of size, as Ohams and Tsimbila were dominant on both ends of the floor. Defensively, Fordham allowed just 8 points in the paint in the first half. Offensively, Ohams and Tsimbila became an excellent high-low tandem, as Ohams frequently fed Tsimbila from the elbow for a slam.
While both teams no doubt brought a ton of pressure from three, there wasn’t much success from anyone from deep. Duquesne entered halftime 0-5 from deep, and while Fordham was decent at 2-7, they elected to drive from the three point line rather than take an open shot.
Up by 11 late in the first half, Fordham was able to go through nearly their entire rotation in the first half. The Rams second forward unit of Patrick Kelly and Rostyslav Novitskyi hit the floor pretty early, while Ahmad Harrison and Kam’Ron Cunningham also saw a decent amount of time on the floor. Even as Duquesne made a 7-0 run late in the first, Fordham was ready to halt any momentum with a big three from Antrell Charlton. Charlton would finish the first half leading all scorers with 9 points.
As the second half opened, Duquesne no doubt came at Fordham with a lot more aggression, but the Rams had their number on nearly every play. The first two Duqesne drives of the half both resulted in massive blocks from Abdou Tsimbila, who finished the game with 3 total. On the other end of the floor, Ohams was fed in the paint for three consecutive buckets, alley-ooping his way to 14 total points with plenty of time remaining in the game. Fordham’s ball movement was also on point in the second half, with an Antrell Charlton kickout to Josh Navarro for three standing out as a top play for the Rams.
As the second half continued, Duquesne was no doubt a much more physical team than they were before the break. They were finally able to get something going from three, and closed their deficit to as much as five points with three minutes remaining in the game. However, for every Duquesne run, there was an Ohams dunk to keep the Dukes just out of reach. With a final 8-0 run, Fordham was able to close out the 11-point win.
Four Fordham scorers finished in double digits, with Ohams leading all scorers with 18.
Fordham improves to 4-7 in A-10 play, while Duquesne falls to 1-9. Up next, Fordham will take on VCU at home on Tuesday, while Duquesne hosts GW on Wednesday.
