With 3 games left before the 2026 Atlantic 10 Tournament in Pittsburgh, the Fordham Rams are currently tied for George Washington at 8th place in the conference with a 7-8 record in Atlantic 10 play, 16-12 overall. Following a 1-6 start to conference play, the Rams have strung together a solid 6-2 stretch in the middle of their A10 slate, punctuated by 4 straight wins over St. Joe’s, URI, Loyola Chicago, and Davidson. While Fordham has shown glimpses of quality basketball, recurring struggles have held the Rams back across multiple games.
Before the Rams tip off against VCU on Saturday in Richmond, let’s take a look at where the Rams have both struggled and excelled.
What’s Worked For Fordham
Before getting into the positives of Fordham’s impressive middle stretch in the A10, it’s important to acknowledge the change in strength of schedule during this dramatic upward turn. In Fordham’s 1-6 stretch, from the A10 opener against Dayton on December 31st to the loss at Davidson on January 21st, Fordham’s opponents in that stretch currently hold a combined record of 57-48 in conference play. From the win over La Salle on January 28th to last weekend’s win over Davidson, Fordham’s opponents in that stretch currently hold a combined A10 record of 53-67.
Injuries also put a damper on Fordham’s early conference slate, with guys like Jack Whitbourn, Roor Akhuar, and Abass Bodija missing considerable time throughout January. When looking at Fordham’s rotation, the Rams have run an average of 9 players per game in their last 8 games compared to 8.1 in the first 7 games of A10 play.
Despite the significant difference in SOS and a slightly deeper rotation, Fordham’s statistical jumps in the second half of conference play shows improvements that go beyond an easier stretch of the season.
Fordham has kept games a lot tighter in the second half of conference play, thanks to both a league-leading defense (64.7 OPPG in-conference) and plenty of late-game heroics from Rams scorers. In Fordham’s 1-6 stretch, the Rams were outscored by an average of 6.2 PPG in the second half. During their recent 6-2 run, Fordham has completely flipped the script to outscore opponents by an average of 3.1 PPG in the final 20 minutes.
When looking at how Fordham has tightened up the margins, the first major key for the Rams has to be the offensive rebounding. Throughout conference play, Coach Magpayo has emphasized fueling this team’s offense through the glass. In the second half of conference play, Fordham fans are finally seeing this come to fruition. In Fordham’s first 7 A10 games, the Rams averaged 0.6 second chance points per offensive rebound per game. In the ensuing 8, that number nearly doubled to 1.1.
Rikus Schulte has been the clear leader off the glass, ranking second in the A10 with 8.3 total rebounds per game in conference play. Offensively, Schulte leads the conference at 3.9 boards per game. Whitbourn, Bodija, and Akira Jacobs all average at least 1 offensive board per conference game as well.
While Schulte has led in the frontcourt, the offense in general has run through Dae Dae Reaves. The A10’s leading scorer both overall (17.6) and in-conference (18.6 PPG), Reaves has had his hand in several major Fordham runs and has hit plenty of big shots. In Fordham’s most recent win over Davidson, Reaves scored 15 of Fordham’s final 17 points, including 5 straight free throws to seal the 63-59 victory. In the final stretch, Fordham fans chanted “M-V-P” as Reaves took his last few foul shots.
“It definitely felt good hearing that from the crowd,” Reaves said after the win. “[In terms of] Closing the game out, we work on situations during practice. So that all just came together starting with practice.”
In total, Reaves finished the game against Davidson with 21 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Speaking of statistical leaders, Fordham currently features another conference frontrunner in Christian Henry, who leads the Atlantic 10 in assists with 5.2 per game. When it comes to scoring, Henry has also helped set the tone for Fordham’s physical buckets.
“Our guards are physical,” Magpayo said after the Davidson win. “Dae Dae and Christian are really putting it to guys, and not just defensively, with their barrel chests and all that, but they’re able to get in the paint.”
Henry notched another 6 assists against the Wildcats last weekend to go along with 5 points and 3 rebounds.
Defensively, Reaves and Henry also set the tone on the perimeter.
“Those active hands, they’re leading to deflections,” Magpayo said after the Loyola win. “[We] turned them over 14 times. Probably below their average, but still [we] turned them over. Our defense is one of the things you’re seeing analytically, is we’re starting to turn teams over.”
In Fordham’s first 7 A10 games, their opponents committed an average of 8 turnovers per game. In the ensuing 8 games, that has jumped to just over 12 turnovers per game.
Down the roster, the aforementioned frontcourt contributors of Bodija and Akhuar are averaging a combined 14.2 PPG in conference play. Guard Marcus Greene has shown some great flashes in February as well. Referred to by his teammates as “Cap,” Greene hit a big dunk during a massive run against Loyola Chicago to put the Rams up by 14 in the first half, bringing the bench to their feet.
“[He was just real purposeful in the way he was carrying himself out there, and that’s huge,” Magpayo said after the win over Loyola. “It’s just [indicative of our] next man up mentality.”
In conference play, Greene has averaged 3.1 PPG.
What Hasn’t Worked
As exciting as Fordham has been in this recent stretch, common problems can be seen in each of their 8 conference losses, as well as in a few of their 7 wins.
Despite a nice jump in their second half performances, the Rams have still struggled in the first. Against VCU on February 3rd, an impressive second half from the Rams was overshadowed by the fact that Fordham entered the break down by 13. On an ensuing road trip, Fordham had to complete two comeback wins after trailing by 10 and 7 points, respectively, against St. Joe’s and URI.
“We were a bunch of salmon swimming upstream,” Magpayo said after the VCU game. “We put ourselves in a hole. We called the first play, and we turned it over to a dunk, and it just set the tone [for the first half].”
Overall, Fordham trailed by an average of 2 points per game in the first 7 games of conference play. This margin only improved to -1.1 over the following 8 contests.
Against opposing defenses, predictability has been their downfall. In the loss to VCU, VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. talked about how they stymied Fordham’s offense by limiting ball screens intended to help Dae Dae Reaves.
“We wanted to be really heavy in the gaps on him, making him be a passer as he drove the ball,” Martello said.
Martelli’s comments were similar to that of Duquesne’s Dru Joyce, who limited Reaves’ passing in a 74-63 Dukes win. Despite the focus on him, Reaves still finished with 21 points against VCU.
Finally, for a team that relies on post presence, Fordham has struggled on some easy inside shots and at the line. Via Torvik, Fordham ranks 13th in the A10 in made close 2-point shots with a 57.9 FG%. In conference play, Fordham has averaged 16.3 free throw attempts per game, while their opponents have averaged 19.3. When at the line, Fordham is currently shooting 70%, 10th in the conference.
Fordham has attempted the 5th-fewest free throws in conference play this season at 247.
Looking ahead
Despite a common thread between losses, Fordham’s recent win streak puts the Rams in position to enter the Atlantic 10 tournament with a minimum of 16 wins, their most since the 2022-23 season. Coach Magpayo has set an impressive benchmark for the program in his first season at the helm. While winning every game in front of them is the highest priority, earning a single-bye in this year’s tournament is a very attainable reward for this impressive stretch.
“I did drop it real quick today at the end, [I said something] like ‘yes, here’s this. Take a look at the standings,’” Magpayo said on the phone after the St. Joe’s win. “I haven’t really delved too deep into it. I still think it’s a little early, but I know that they [the team] are looking.”
As of the morning of February 27th, Fordham sits firmly in the single-bye range of the Atlantic 10 as the 8th seed.
On Saturday, the Rams start a 2-game road trip with a game against VCU in Richmond. Despite a 4-point loss to VCU in their last meeting, Coach Magpayo hopes to channel what he saw out of the second half of that game into another
“I thought that the second half of [playing] VCU was a turning point for our season,” Magpayo said after the Davidson game. “I know we lost that game, but I went to the locker room [after the game] like ‘guys, you are good. The start that we had there was what hurt us. We are a good team, and the second half proved it.”
Fordham and VCU tip off on Saturday at 12:30 PM. Following the game against VCU, the Rams remain on the road to play La Salle on Wednesday. They finish the regular season at home against Rhode Island on March 7th.