Fordham Basketball: After a Lost Night at Barclays, a Chance to Rebound

Last month, Fordham was shocked in its own gym in consecutive games against what were thought to be inferior opponents.

On Nov. 23, UMass Lowell came into the Rose Hill Gym and dealt the Rams one of their most bitter defeats in recent memory. Six days later, Maryland Eastern Shore arrived and did the same.

To some extent, Fordham has rebounded from the early setbacks, though last night's 71-57 loss to Manhattan at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was its second in a row.

Fordham led 16-4 six minutes and 16 seconds into the game, but Manhattan proceeded to outscore the Rams, 26-9, to take a five-point lead into the break.

The Jaspers started the second half with a 22-5 run and led by 22. Though the Rams got it down to nine with 1:33 to play, this really wasn't much of a game in the second half.

Fordham turned the ball over 18 times. It shot 42.6 percent from the floor, 48 percent from the free-throw line and 31.3 percent from three-point range. Only one Ram—Mandell Thomas—scored in double digits (14 points). From a statistical standpoint and pretty much across the board, it was not a good night for Fordham, which dropped to 3-6 on the year.

This wasn't just your normal game on a Monday night in December. For Fordham, it was much bigger than that.

For starters, though nobody will mistake this rivalry for Duke-North Carolina, Fordham and Manhattan have been playing basketball against each other for over 100 years. The schools, both located in the Bronx, New York, are close geographically. Monday night was the 107th time the schools have met, but only the second time they've played outside of the Bronx. With the win, the Jaspers hold a 56-51 advantage in the series.

Also, the game presented the Rams with a chance to get a win against a rival under the bright lights of one of New York City's biggest and best venues—a showcase game, if you will. That, of course, didn't happen.

Finally, the Rams are two weeks away from beginning what is sure to be a grueling 18-game Atlantic 10 schedule. They have to compile as many nonconference wins as they can. After the devastating losses to UMass Lowell and Maryland Eastern Shore, Fordham has had some ground to make up. That made last night's game even more important. With Manhattan entering the game with a 3-7 record, it was one Fordham needed and one it looked like it could get. There aren't too many of those left.

Looking ahead, Howard and South Carolina State will make their way to the Rose Hill Gym on Dec. 28 and Dec. 31, respectively. Both teams are under .500. The Rams need to win both games.

If they do, they'll be 5-6 heading into league play. Maybe not what they envisioned at the start of the season but at this point, in what has been an up-and-down year to date, they'll have to take it.

Game information and statistics courtesy of FordhamSports.com.

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