Despite 4 comeback wins in A10 play this season, Fordham finished conference play 1-3 when trailing by double digits in the first half. In the second round of the A10 Tournament Thursday afternoon, the Rams entered the break down 21 against the George Washington Revolutionaries, their largest halftime deficit all season.
While limiting open opportunities for GW under the basket in the early minutes, Fordham struggled to find good looks of their own on offense. After missing their first 4 attempts from the field, Abass Bodija finally hit a physical floater from the paint to put Fordham on the board to make it 4-2 in favor of the Revs. However, buckets like Bodija’s were few and far between.
“I just think [in] the first half, they were bullying us,” Rams G Dae Dae Reaves said. “It just came down to who was going to be more physical coming into this game. [In the] first half, they were way more physical than us.”
In the first half, GW held Fordham scoreless off second chance attempts, an area in which the Rams have thrived all season. Fordham was also scoreless in transition.
GW, while off to a fairly slow start of their own, built their early advantage off a few three-pointers from Christian Jones and Tre Dinkins. The impact of those threes were further amplified by Fordham’s struggles on offense, as GW held a 13-4 lead by the 12-minute mark of the half. The Revs extended their lead into double-digits with 2 free throws from Trey Autry to put GW up 18-8 with 9:55 left in the half.
From then on, GW exploded from the field heading into halftime. What made this GW run especially devastating for Fordham were the offensive rebounds. In the final 8 minutes of the half, the Revs hit 4 second-chance buckets, 3 of them coming from beyond the arc. For the Rams, a team that prides itself on the glass, GW’s ability to turn a few missed twos into second-chance threes proved to be a nightmare scenario.
“There was a big emphasis on intensity and physicality,” Rams G Marcus Greene said about the matchup. “George Washington came out and set the tone, and it took us too long to respond when really, we shouldn’t even be responding.”
GW entered the break up 38-17.
Although down, Fordham’s start to the second half showed they were not yet out. After failing to score a field goal on back-to-back possessions the entire first half, Fordham hit 6 of their first 9 attempts of the second. While still down 15, this run was enough to rekindle some confidence within the Rams.
“We need to come back with our own physicality,” Greene said, recounting the conversation with his teammates at halftime. “Simply put, we were getting bullied. Coaches could see that, we could see it. We say what we need to do to our face.”
Greene, who scored 5 points in the first half, was a key playmaker in Fordham’s second half push. With just over 10 minutes left in the game, Greene drew contact on a three-point attempt and earned a trip to the line. His 2 made free throws were the first of 6 unanswered Fordham points that forced GW to call time out with 8:43 to play. Out of the timeout, Greene scored a fast break layup to bring the run to 8-0.
In the final minutes of the half, multiple Fordham scorers got on the board as they pushed the deficit within 5. Akira Jacobs hit a left corner three to make it 55-50. Dae Dae drove inside for an and-1 layup, hitting the ensuing free throw to keep the Rams within 57-52. Roor Akhuar, calling for the ball on the right corner with 3:37 to play, sunk a right corner tre to put Fordham down just 59-56.
Despite one of Fordham’s best second halves of the season, GW’s dominant start to the game kept a potential tie just out of reach. It’s not like the Revs stopped trying in the second half either. After just 4 points in the first half, Rafael Castro notched 11 in the second, including a clutch second chance shot to keep the Revs up 61-56 late. His 15 points trailed just behind Christian Jones, who scored 20 for the GW, and Reaves, who scored 23 for the Rams.
Down 64-42 with 14 seconds remaining, Fordham could not hold GW back in their full court press, allowing Jean Aranguren to break free in transition and hit an and-1 layup. Although Aranguren missed the ensuing free throw, his final field goal secured the 66-62 Revs victory.
George Washington will play Saint Louis in the first quarterfinal game on Friday.
Putting a Wrap on the Season
Despite the loss, Rams head coach Mike Magpayo praised his team’s performance late in the game, emphasizing that their ability to rally perfectly personified their playstyle this season.
“I think this will go down as perhaps my favorite team,” Magpayo said. “This game is so emblematic of what our season looked like, especially in conference. Slow, slow start, but just a lot of character, resilience, and fight.”
With the loss, Fordham finishes the season with an overall record of 17 wins and 15 losses, their first winning season since 2022-23.
After being named head coach of the program on March 29th of last year, Magpayo recounted the urgency with which he assembled a coaching staff, recruited players, and built a team culture through an abbreviated offseason. Despite the haste with which he built his first Fordham squad, Magpayo highlighted this squad’s embodiment of Fordham values.
“I had to get 13 new guys–I forget how many now, 12 or 13–in literally five weeks,” Magpayo explained. “And we were dealing with some past violations which are past. So it was a challenge. We were trying to get commitments on Zoom. So that’s part of the reason why it happened like this. But I do think that [we did] stick to guys with great attitudes, great work ethics, and guys that really, really want to be here in New York City and play for Fordham.”
Looking ahead, Coach Magpayo highlighted players like Akira Jacobs, Roor Akhuar, and Abass Bodija as key pieces for next year’s Rams squad. Without getting into specifics, Magpayo told the press that “two of those three” are fully committed to rejoining the team next year. In terms of their growth, Magpayo highlighted the leadership of Dae Dae Reaves as a key mentor this season.
“Dae Dae, he is this guy every single day–win, lose, bad loss, losing streak, winning streak,” Magpayo said. “And he grew. He got better. We got scouts calling about him now. He should get a shot at Portsmouth, I hope. People are asking me what level I think he is. I think he’ll be in the mix for two-way contracts.”
Reaves, who led the league in scoring during the regular season at 18.7 PPG, was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Second Team on Wednesday.