Fordham’s second-half troubles continued last Wednesday night. On the road against Davidson, Fordham couldn’t hold on to a four-point halftime lead and ultimately fell to the Wildcats, 68–63. With known issues plaguing the Rams, now 1-6 in conference play, how can they make the necessary adjustments for a strong February and beyond?
Where Fordham excelled
Going into last week’s game, the Rams were aware of both their struggles from beyond the arc and Davidson’s ability to defend the three at a high level. As a result, Fordham avoided shooting threes for almost the entire game, finishing with a season-high 12 attempts from deep. Of those twelve threes, the Rams made five. Offensively, Fordham made its home in the paint, scoring 8 points on six offensive boards and outscoring the Wildcats 38-36.
“That’s who we are as a team,” Magpayo said in a telephone interview Thursday. “That’s what we have; our size. So we tried to exploit that and.” [we] did a pretty good job attacking the paint…getting penetration.”
Fordham’s two main big men, Rikus Schulte and Jack Whitbourn, combined for 17 points and 11 rebounds.
In the frontcourt, Dae Dae Reaves turned in another strong performance, allowing him to work from virtually anywhere inside the arc and often splitting defenders before making powerful drives to the basket. In the second half, Fordham extended their lead to 9 points, but Davidson stepped up midway through the half to lead 43-42 at the under 8 media timeout (more on that soon). With 5 minutes to play, Schulte set a screen at the top of the key for Reaves. With the lane open, Reaves charged towards the ring, bounced off Davidson’s Josh Scovens and laid him in to tie the match at 48.
‘They are [opponents] with three or four defenders around him,” Magpayo said of Reaves. “We had a plan to put him in different spaces, and that’s what happened in the last month or so. He really feels comfortable in those spaces.
Reaves finished the game with 22 points on 9-14 shooting from the field. Defensively, he recorded 2 steals.
Where Fordham gave Davidson an edge
Although Fordham got off to a good start in the second half and extended their lead, the signs of a potential Davidson comeback were there. At the under-16 media timeout, Fordham led 39-31 but had already committed four turnovers in the period. The Rams especially struggled on inbound plays on the baseline, leading to several turnovers that Coach Magpayo described as “pick-sixes.” In total, Davidson scored 22 points off 18 Fordham turnovers.
Despite Abass Bodija and Christian Henry returning to the lineup for Fordham in recent games, stamina remains an issue for the Rams. Magpayo took some blame for the way he has managed the rotation.
“We played our two guards [Reaves and Henry] More than 36 minutes,” Magpayo said. ‘And that’s kind of my fault. I have to trust that some of our backup perimeter guys will help us.”
Henry, Reaves and Akira Jacobs dominated playing time for the Rams against Davidson with 37, 36 and 34 minutes respectively.
Looking ahead
After the loss, Fordham was given a rare weekend without a game before hosting La Salle on Wednesday. Before taking on the Explorers, Coach Magpayo hoped to put his team through some good practices on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday.
Josh Scovens’ thousandth point
For Davidson, Wednesday’s win not only marked a big comeback for the ‘Cats, but also a major milestone for junior guard Josh Scovens. With 48 seconds to play, Scovens hit a spinning hook over Rikus Schulte to score his 1,000th and 1,001st career points.
“We guarded the three very well, but we were not able to keep him under 19 points,” said Magpayo. “He was a big factor [in Davidson’s win].”
Scovens finished with 19 points and 3 steals for the Wildcats.
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