The Fordham men are undefeated at home to start the 2015-16 season. Drew DiPane/The Fordham Ram
By Sam Belden
One week into the new season, it’s clear that the Fordham University men’s basketball team has been feeling the home-court advantage. After coming out on top against Queens College in their home opener Tuesday, the Rams kept it going and defeated the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights on Saturday.
The main source of Fordham’s success was its explosive offense. The Rams never trailed and were relentless, leading to a final score of 85-62. The 23-point margin of victory was Fordham’s largest in more than a year.
Despite turning in a dominant performance overall, the Rams’ first half was uneven. After going on a 10-2 run within the game’s first five minutes, Fordham seized a large initial advantage. Soon, though, its offense went ice-cold, allowing the Knights to pull within a point with just eight minutes remaining in the half.
With the game in a virtual dead heat, Fordham once again went on an impressive run. In the five minutes until the midway point, the Rams outscored Fairleigh Dickinson 11-2, arriving at the halftime with a 13-point advantage. Four different players contributed to Fordham’s offensive surge, but freshman guard Joseph Chartouny, playing in just his third collegiate game, hit a shot from beyond the arc and scored a total of five points over the stretch.
After resting up, the Rams continued what they had started toward the end of the first half. Fairleigh Dickinson never got within 10 points of the lead for the rest of the game and trailed by a full 21 points by the 10-minute mark. Both teams found themselves in the bonus fairly quickly, and trips to the free throw line were frequent until the final buzzer. Through it all, though, Fordham refused to surrender an inch, and after a fair amount of garbage time, the final score stood at 85-62.
Chartouny and sophomore forward Christian Sengfelder paced the Rams with 15 points apiece. The former added eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals in an extremely impressive performance. The latter, for his part, put up four rebounds, three steals and a block. Graduate student center Ryan Canty scored 12 and grabbed 10 for the only double-double on either side.
Next Tuesday, Fordham will host the Colgate University Raiders at 8 p.m. It will be the third consecutive home game for the Rams, who will try to maintain the recent trend of perfection in the Rose Hill Gym.
