Fordham Announces Ryan Canty Is Lost for Season, Then Drops Its 3rd Straight

Fordham head coach Tom Pecora told Bleacher Report 90 minutes before tip-off Sunday that center Ryan Canty will redshirt this season and return to the Rams as a fifth-year senior in 2015-16.

According to Pecora, the decision was ultimately made by the doctors who performed back surgery on Canty in September. Bleacher Report first reported on Canty's injury in August. At that time, it was thought he'd be out for at least the first month of the season.

Canty was expected to have a major impact this year. He would've been one of only two seniors trying to help guide a young team with seven freshmen. At 6'9" he brought much-needed size and ability to the court. And, late last season, he seemed to be coming into his own.

Canty had 10 or more rebounds in five of the Rams' final six games. In the regular-season finale against George Washington, he pulled down 16, then grabbed 19 in the play-in game of the Atlantic 10 tournament.

Canty took a leave of absence early in the 2013-14 season which resulted in him missing six games. This year he was hoping to continue the progress he made down the stretch a season ago.

In late August, on the day the Rams left for their trip to Canada, Canty told B/R he hoped to return "stronger [and better]" after surgery. His back has been an issue throughout his college career. Now, his return is a full year away.

Without Canty, Fordham's losing streak is now at three after UMass Lowell came into the Rose Hill Gym Sunday evening and shocked the Rams, 64-57. After back-to-back losses at Penn State and Maryland, Fordham returned home for the first of four games, looking to pick up a much-needed win against an opponent certainly not on the level of what it'll see once conference play begins in January.

UMass Lowell had a 25-24 lead at halftime. After a series of lead changes in the second half, the River Hawks went up by 11 with 6:26 to go. Following a timeout, the Rams showed some life but eventually found themselves trailing by 12 with less than two minutes to play.

Fordham started fouling with 1:40 left. The River Hawks couldn't hit a free throw (7-for-26 on the night), but the Rams didn't have much success on the offensive end, shooting 33.9 percent from the floor for the game (5-for-27 from three-point range) and struggling to hit a shot when they needed one most in the final couple of minutes.

Sometimes injuries, or injury news, can overshadow whatever happens on the court. Last night's loss overshadows everything.

Afterward, Pecora called the loss embarrassing.

"They wanted it more than we did," he said. He added, "This is not a good one, I'm not going to lie to you."

Quotations in this article were obtained firsthand.

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