STAFF WRITER

At the end of last semester, the Fordham men’s basketball team had a 6-3 record. This semester, the Rams have won one of eight games, after losses last week to Dayton and No. 24 Saint Louis extended Fordham’s losing streak to six games. 

A pair of losses to Dayton and #24 Saint Louis have extended the men’s basketball team’s losing streak to six games. (Photo by Drew DiPane/The Ram)

When Fordham head coach Tom Pecora addressed the media after Wednesday’s loss to Dayton, the first thing he said was, “We played a better basketball team than us.”

Dayton entered the game at 12-4, boasting wins over Cal and No. 11 Gonzaga. Despite allowing the Flyers to shoot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, Fordham hung tight and trailed by only three points, 39-36, at halftime.

“At halftime, I said to the guys, we’re in this game because we’re doing some of the little things well,” Pecora said. “But then in the beginning of the second half, they came out and took the fight to us. We didn’t respond.”

Dayton opened the second half on an 8-0 run and never looked back on its way to an 80-68 victory.

“[The deficit] was at 13 for so long,” Pecora said. “It’s a tease, because you’re two possessions from putting the pressure on them. Get it to seven, and all of a sudden then the pressure goes on them a little bit. We just couldn’t get ourselves over the top.”

The problem for Fordham was two-fold: The Rams were not making their shots, and Dayton seemingly could not miss. Fordham shot a lackluster 34.5 percent, while Dayton shot 57.1 percent.

“We’re taking care of the basketball, and we’re getting more shots up than our opponent, but right now our shooters are really struggling,” Pecora said. “I grew up on defense and rebounding, but the most important stat is offensive field goal percentage, and right now ours is horrible.”

Pecora did not feel his players were being aggressive enough offensively.

“I don’t think we worked hard enough or were physical enough offensively to get the shots we wanted to get,” he said.

On the defensive end, nothing Fordham tried seemed to work. Whether the Rams went with a man-to-man defense or a zone, Dayton scored with relative ease.

“Is there a third thing to do?” Pecora joked. “You can go half a possession man, half a possession zone — we used to do that. It just seemed like the ball always ended up in the hands of their shooters [when we were] in zone. I think our blitzes were soft. We didn’t really go after them and after the ball, and in turn they were able to throw some great passes out of it.”

Pecora knew things would not get any easier against No. 24 Saint Louis.

“I go home and I start watching tape of Saint Louis, and it’s amazing I don’t drink more,” he said. “Saint Louis is bigger, more physical and really tough at home, so it’s going to be a great challenge. But that’s A-10 basketball.”

The Bilikens are the best defensive team in the country according to Ken Pomeroy’s advanced statistics. They suffocated the Fordham offense on Saturday. The Rams shot a dismal 19.4 percent in the first half and managed only 16 points, a season low for a half.

Fordham was unable to overcome the early deficit, and Saint Louis cruised to a 70-48 victory.

Fordham’s next chance to pick up its first A-10 win comes on Wednesday against George Mason at home.

“They have to understand the wins are out there,” Pecora said. “But no one’s going to give you one in this league.”

Categories: Basketball, Sports