Following a 70-69 loss to the Holy Cross Crusaders on December 6th, the Fordham Rams powered through the end of their non-conference schedule with 3 double-digit wins over FDU, Manhattan, and New Haven to finish 9-4 in non-league play. With a 63-56 road loss to the Flyers in Dayton to open A10 play, the Rams finished the 2025 portion of their 2025-26 season 9-5.
But first, a quick injury update
Louis Lesmond (back) and Ryan Pettis (concussion protocol) did not suit up in multiple games for the Rams in December. Lesmond last played in a game for Fordham on 11/30 against Colgate before returning against Dayton, while Pettis has not hit the floor since the win over LIU on 11/20.
Marcus Greene, who played against FDU en route to 7 points over 26 minutes, was unavailable for the Manhattan game due to illness. Greene returned to action against New Haven and Dayton, recording 26 and 35 minutes, respectively, in both games.
Against Dayton, Fordham was without key contributors in Christian Henry (concussion protocol) and Abass Bodija (ankle). Henry will be ready for Sunday’s matchup against the Spiders, while Bodija’s status has not yet been disclosed.
Game 11: Fordham 75, FDU 54
Four days after the Holy Cross loss, the Rams found themselves in another tight matchup early, this time with the FDU Knights. Fordham’s spacing and shot selection was solid, with Christian Henry finding opportunities in isolation and Dey Dey Reaves unafraid to take contested heaves.
However, Fordham could not find their first bucket until Reaves hit a fast break layup just after the 17-minute mark. With a 10-8 lead coming out of the under-12 first half timeout, something clicked offensively for the Rams. Their lead grew to 20-12 by the under-8 thanks to exceptional ball movement. 7 of Fordham’s first 10 buckets of the game came off assists.
According to Coach Magpayo, his team took a lot of time to reflect on the loss to the Crusaders and take accountability, both in a long film session the day after the game and in the ensuing practices.
“Some of the practices got a little gritty and confrontational,” Magpayo said. “and I definitely was challenging these guys all the way up to yesterday.”
Despite the back-and-forth start, Fordham’s accountability really showed up late in the first half. That 20-12 lead at the under-8 ballooned to 37-22 at the break. The Rams would go on to win 75-54 to improve to 7-4 overall.
While a strong team effort, with 15 of 28 field goals assisted, Christian Henry led the way offensively in a very physical scoring effort. 4-6 from the stripe, Henry drew 8 total fouls in the game, more than twice that of any other player on both teams. When asked about fighting through contact, the senior guard emphasized his desire to set the tone physically each game.
“That’s just how I play,” Henry said. “I want to be physical with everybody, people like to be physical with me, and I know how to draw fouls. If they’re just gonna keep doing it, I’m just gonna keep making them foul me. As long as the refs keep calling it, I’m cool [with it].”
By the end of non-conference play, Henry led the team in free throw attempts by a wide margin, with 50 through 13 games. Rikus Schulte was second with 33.
Game 12: Fordham 82, Manhattan 53
Fordham got off to a hot start in the latest edition of the Battle of the Bronx thanks in large part to tough defense and dominant rebounding on both ends of the floor. By the under-16 media timeout, Manhattan was 0-6 on shots within the arc, their only field goal at that point coming off a Fraser Roxburgh three pointer. By the under-8, Fordham held a 21-4 advantage on the glass to help hold a 25-13 lead.
According to Magpayo, Fordham’s strong rebounding ability is something this team must rely on all season. When teams throw tough defensive sets at Fordham and limit shot opportunities, reliable rebounders are crucial for keeping offensive possessions alive.
“We even watched a film of rebounding [before the game] today,” Magpayo said postgame. “That’ll fix a lot of errors out there. As long as we get shots on the rim, and you give Christian Henry enough looks at the reads, [then] he starts to figure it out, and he really did in the second half, but it was all about getting shots on the rim and then going to crush the glass.”
Fordham would finish the game outrebounding Manhattan 47-21. Removing the three games that Fordham played against non-Division I opponents, this was the Rams’ best rebounding margin of the season, as well as the lowest rebounding total recorded by a Fordham opponent this season.
Out of the under-8, Manhattan made a big push to get back within single digits, ending the half on a 12-6 run and outrebounding the Rams 8-7 in that same stretch. Trailing 31-25 at the break, Manhattan tore into the second half with three consecutive makes, but Fordham was able to match their pace to maintain a 39-34 lead at the under-16. Out of the timeout, Fordham exploded into a 20-10 run in which Christian Henry and Abass Bodija combined for 16 points.
Fordham would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. The Rams’ advantage eclipsed the 20-point mark with a Christian Henry jumper with 9:34 left to play. Henry finished the day with 19 points, while Rikus Schulte led all scorers with 21.
When asked about coaching his first Battle of the Bronx, Coach Magpayo talked about getting in the right headspace for this rivalry, which included attending a game between St. Raymond’s and Cardinal Hayes, two legendary Bronx Catholic high school programs, the night before.
“[Our mindset] is about our team and really buying in [to the program] and taking a lot of pride in Rose Hill and Fordham,” Magpayo said. “These guys took a lot of pride in protecting Rose Hill today.”
With the win, Fordham’s all-time record in the MBB portion of the Battle of the Bronx improves to 54-58.
Game 13: Fordham 65, New Haven 47
Tell me if you’ve read this one before; after a back-and-forth first half, Fordham locked in through the final 20 minutes to turn a 7-point advantage at the break into an 18-point win.
In another physical contest, Fordham fought their way to a 29-23 lead at the half. However, just past the 7-minute mark, the Rams with a potential game-changing injury. Down 18-14, Christian Henry received a pass from Roor Akhuar and, without turning his head before attempting to take the ball up the court, collided hard with New Haven’s Najimi George.
Clearly shaken up, Henry was looked at by team trainers on the court before slowly getting up and checking out of the game. Despite returning to the floor with 3:11 left to play, Henry checked himself out of the game in the final two minutes of the half with a take foul. He would not return in the second half. By the time of his exit, Henry had 4 points, 3 assists, and a steal.
Luckily for the Rams, there were several other players able to step up to make up for Henry’s absence, including Jack Whitbourn. Making his first appearance for the Rams, Whitbourn recorded 8 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assists in the win.
According to Magpayo, he was nervous about potentially bringing the sophomore in prematurely this season after missing some time due to a lower body injury.
“[I was just thinking] let’s get to 11 AM and get him out there,” Magpayo said. “But he had a great week of practice. He participated in the whole thing, fully live and everything. We had a big scrimmage day in the middle of the week, and he got through that big scrimmage day. I’m sure his body’s gonna be feeling it tomorrow, but you got a good glimpse [of Jack’s ability].”
Last season at UC Riverside, Whitbourn averaged 3.3 PPG and 4.4 RPG in 34 games under Coach Magpayo.
Game 14: Dayton 63, Fordham 56
On New Year’s Eve, the Rams opened their 2025-26 A10 slate on the road against the Dayton Flyers, a team they have not beaten since the 2020-21 season. With four Rams listed on the official A10 injury reports, including Christian Henry and Abass Bodija, snagging a win against a Top 100 KenPom Flyers team would probably be an uphill battle. However, while Dayton held the lead from their opening bucket to the final buzzer, the Rams kept pace throughout.
Dayton’s press stifled Fordham’s offense all game en route to 18 Flyers points off 14 Rams turnovers. When Fordham was able to get the ball up the court, they struggled to find an open shot. The Rams finished the afternoon shooting 35% from the field, their worst performance since their season opener against NJIT (34.3%). Despite their offensive woes, Coach Magpayo was impressed by Fordham’s defensive efforts.
“We defended them well,” Coach Magpayo said in a phone interview. “We just didn’t take care of the ball well enough.”
Dayton’s 63 points against Fordham marked just the third time this season in which the Flyers were held to fewer than 70 points.
While Fordham had trouble finding quality shots, their ability to rebound at a high clip once again helped them keep things close. Fordham outrebounded Dayton 41-33 overall, with 16 offensive boards that led to 10 second chance points. To keep the boards flowing, Coach Magpayo ran a particularly large lineup for most of the game with Jack Whitbourn and Rikus Schulte sharing a decent amount of court time, recording 29 and 33 minutes respectively.
“With Jack, when I coached him last year with Rikus, they were both nationally-ranked rebounders,” Magpayo said. Playing them together is just really hard for [opponents because] they’re lengthy.”
Whitbourn and Schulte combined for 26 of Fordham’s 41 boards.
Another offensive bright spot, albeit isolated to the first half, was Roor Akhuar. Before he injured his foot before halftime and was sidelined for the final 20 minutes, Akhuar spaced the floor well to get open for two quick catch-and-shoot threes. His ability to get open in the corner was an early bright spot amidst some shooting woes for the team overall. Despite leaving the game with a foot injury, Coach Magpayo said that Rams fans should expect Akhuar’s name to pop up in the starting lineup a lot more in the future.
“I don’t know if it’s naivety, or, [if it’s because] he’s a true 18-year-old freshman, [but] he’s not fazed by anything,” Magpayo said. “When he came in, I remember his first practice, he just jumped in head first. He’s kind of doing that now. Of course, there’s a lot of mistakes he’s making out there, and there’s normal freshman things, but he loves the game and he can really shoot it.”
Also joining Akhuar with buckets behind the arc were Akira Jacobs, who shot 4-9 from deep en route to 12 points, and Dey Dey Reaves, who hit 2 threes to add to his total of 18 points.
Looking Ahead
Despite the 0-1 start to conference play, Coach Magpayo is optimistic about what this lineup can do against the Atlantic 10. This afternoon, the Rams continue their campaign against the Richmond Spiders, led by veteran A10 Coach Chris Mooney in his 21st season with the program. Listing Mooney as an influence for his own coaching, Magpayo expects a high-caliber offense from the Spiders.
“They got some great shooters, great scorers on the perimeter, so we’re going to have to deal with that,” Magpayo said. “And then [they’ve got] these great passing big men and [are] running this offense where they’re cutting and moving it from one side to the next.”
Fordham’s last beat Richmond on January 3rd, 2018 at the Rose Hill Gym.