Fordham Basketball: After Tough Week on the Road, Time to Look Ahead

Fordham lost twice this week in back-to-back games on the road against Big Ten opponents.

After a 94-77 win over the New York Institute of Technology in the season opener, the last two games served as a reminder that nothing will come easy this season—not that anything has ever been easy—with eight underclassmen who could see significant time, a schedule that includes 18 games against Atlantic 10 teams and the just-completed trips to Penn State and Maryland.

Last Sunday against Penn State, just two days after its win over NYIT, Fordham took an early 10-5 lead, but the Nittany Lions responded with an 11-0 run and led 38-21 at the half. The Rams trailed by as many as 25 in the second half and lost 73-54.

"Life with seven freshmen is interesting," Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said after the Penn State loss, according to FordhamSports.com. "We've got to use this game as a learning experience and take something from it as we move on."

Four days later Fordham was in Maryland, where the Terrapins, now 3-0, continued their hot start to the season with a 66-50 win over the Rams. Fordham kept it close in the first half, trailing by just five at the break, but Maryland would pull away in the second half for a 66-50 win.

"They're good. We knew they were good. We had great respect for them," Pecora said about Maryland in postgame remarks, reported by FordhamSports.com. "I thought we played really hard considering we didn't have Eric Paschall and Antwoine Anderson. The guys played real hard, and they competed."

Despite the two losses, there was some good news this past week, as Paschall was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week after scoring 31 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in Fordham's opener. The 31 points he scored against NYIT set a school record for most points scored by a freshman in his debut.

At 1-2, there's some relief in sight. Fordham's next four games against UMass Lowell, Maryland Eastern Shore, Siena and Monmouth, all at home, are games it can win. Then there's the two against local rivals St. John's (Madison Square Garden) and Manhattan (Barclays Center), before Howard and South Carolina State come to Rose Hill. Fordham won't leave New York City until it travels to Rhode Island on Jan. 7.

As tough as the games were at Penn State and Maryland, it's good to have those in the rearview mirror. It will be important for the Rams to get healthy, as that's been one of the big storylines of the season so far.

Paschall didn't make the trip to Maryland after undergoing medical tests. Before the game, WFUV Sports reported that he had an irregular heartbeat.

"

Rams Guard Eric Paschall will miss tonight's game at Maryland after an irregular heartbeat was discovered during a Tuesday physical.

— WFUV Sports (@wfuvsports) November 20, 2014"

It's expected that he'll rejoin the team at practice Friday.

"

Paschall underwent tests Wednesday & Thursday and was cleared by doctors after they came back normal. He'll practice with the team tomorrow.

— WFUV Sports (@wfuvsports) November 20, 2014"

The injury bug has definitely hit Fordham hard.

Anderson was a game-time decision opening night, played just five minutes at Penn State and sat out the game at Maryland with a groin injury. Point guard Nemanja Zarkovic has been battling a hip injury for some time, though he's been able to play through it. Manny Suarez, who didn't play in the opener, played a season-high 20 minutes Thursday night. He had shoulder surgery in July. Ryan Canty, one of only two seniors, is out indefinitely following back surgery.

The Rams dressed just 12 players Thursday. Eventually, one would think, they're going to get healthy.

On the non-injury front, Jon Severe, who was suspended for a week due to a violation of team rules, has appeared in the last two games but has played only 22 minutes combined and has only two points in those games.

You have to think that Fordham can take advantage of a long stretch of games at home over the next month-and-a-half. There will be challenges, but no back-to-back scenarios on the road against teams from power conferences.

Time to look ahead.

Statistics, game information and quotes courtesy of FordhamSports.com.

Charles Costello covers the Fordham Rams for Bleacher Report. A full archive of his articles can be found here. Twitter: @CFCostello