The Fordham Rams are getting into the home stretch of their regular season. With less than ten games remaining on the schedule, the Rams must battle to make the Atlantic 10 tournament. On Saturday morning, Mack Rosenberg and I sat down with Rams’ Head Coach Tom Pecora.
The Celtics and Lakers are among two of the most respected, storied, and successful franchises in professional sports. The National Basketball Association’s two hallmark franchises combine for a total of 52 Finals appearances and 33 Larry O’Brien Trophies.
WFUV Beat Reporters Eric Mollo, Mike Watts, and Kenny Ducey broke down the Giants, Rangers, and Nets respectively before Fordham's game at La Salle Saturday. Click below to hear reaction to Ahmad Bradshaw's release, how the Rangers can return to the top of the East, and what is hurting the Nets so badly.
Entering Wednesday night’s contest with Saint Louis, Fordham had a respectable home record of 4-3 compared to a dismal 0-11 mark in true road games. Many fans probably hoped the home court advantage would aid the Rams against Saint Louis, but that was not the case. The Billikens demolished Fordham 90-73 in a game that they controlled from start to finish.
It has been 18 years since the Fordham Rams Women’s Basketball program had a winning season. Sunday’s 30-point victory over VCU guaranteed that the Maroon and White will be over .500 for the first time since the 1994-1995 season. Fordham now has five wins in the Atlantic 10, matching the most that any Rams team has ever had in conference play. This is just one of the many reasons why second year coach Stephanie Gaitley is smiling about her team.
Tom Pecora joined me in his weekly Fordham Focus spot on One on One Saturday afternoon. We spoke mainly about the growth of this team in its previous two games, a 4 point loss to St. Joe's and a 3 point win against URI. Pecora agrees that Branden Frazier has used Chris Gaston's absence to his advantage in terms of his growth as leader of the team.
Fordham dropped to 6-16 overall after losing to VCU last night in Richmond, 81-65. The pressure defense from VCU's Rams forced Fordham into 22 turnovers, and resulted in 32 points off those turnovers. That's where the game was won for the Atlantic 10's newest member. Fordham got double digit scoring performances from Mandell Thomas (16 points) and Brian Smith (17 points). They shot better than VCU, and won the rebounding battle, but ultimately couldn't hang with VCU.
The Brooklyn Nets made a statement Friday night in front of a sellout crowd at the Barclays Center, taking down the Bulls 93-89 despite some lackluster performances from their starters. With the victory, the Nets improved to 28-19, but more importantly they picked up a much-needed win against a team over .500.
Last season the Boston Celtics went on to surprise many in getting to the Conference Finals, then taking Miami to a seventh game. Boston’s aging big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were in year five of an original three year plan, and most media members declared their title window closed.
The Fordham Rams finished their two game home stand with another entertaining game down to the final minute. In the end, they couldn't complete the effort in losing to Saint Joseph's 66-62 at the Rose Hill Gym Wednesday night.
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