Fordham Basketball: Loyalty Rewarded as Upperclassmen Lead Rams to Win

Fordham lost a heartbreaker last Wednesday at Richmond. Ahead by eight points with six minutes, 11 seconds to go, the Rams squandered the lead and lost the game, 73-71.

On Sunday, in front of 2,885 on Alumni Day at the Rose Hill Gym, Fordham was determined not to let another second-half lead slip away.

The Rams led for the final 17:15 and beat Saint Joseph's, 69-55, to improve to 7-16 overall and 2-11 in the Atlantic 10.

"Obviously, I'm very pleased with the effort," Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said moments after his team evened its home record at 7-7. "It looks like we learned something about closing out games, which we talked about after Wednesday night's loss at Richmond—a game we could have won had we closed it out."

The fact that the Rams won is one thing—a story unto itself when you consider their difficulties this season. That they did it on the backs of their three upperclassmen makes the victory even more significant.

Senior Bryan Smith scored 12 points and added four assists. Junior Mandell Thomas scored 20 points to go along with six assists. And Ryan Rhoomes, also a junior, had six points and 12 rebounds.

For Rhoomes, it was the 13th time this year that he's had nine or more rebounds in a game.

Meanwhile, Thomas took over as the team's starting point guard on Jan. 22, a Pecora move that seems to be paying off. Thomas is averaging 12.6 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, and he's helped settle down a turnover-prone offense.

Smith may be the biggest story to emerge from Sunday's game. The senior has had a rocky season, struggling with his shot for a good portion of the current campaign.

But Sunday, he was 4-of-6 from the field, and he knocked down a huge three-pointer with under seven minutes left in the game when Richmond had cut the Rams lead to six.

"Our lone senior did a wonderful job," Pecora said about Smith, "not only being a leader but making big-time plays, making big-time shots in a timely fashion.

"Bryan's had an up-and-down season, but I believe he's going to finish strong. He deserves it."

Pecora praised Smith's leadership "even on nights when he's not making shots." He talked about Thomas "embracing the move to the point position." And he mentioned the "workmanlike performance" turned in by Rhoomes.

The loyalty Pecora has shown to his three upperclassmen, through good times and bad, paid off Sunday afternoon.

"You can only be as good as your upperclassmen," Pecora said. "I've had teams where I had seniors who didn't play, but because they accepted that role in a positive fashion and they were great in practice and they were great in the locker room, we were able to have a great year.

"There's a lot of teams out there where there's a couple juniors and a senior that are upset they're not playing and they're ruining it for the season. These guys aren't letting that happen.

"The young guys really respect them. The development of the young guys has a lot to do with the way these guys treat them. When they were freshmen, there wasn't that veteran leader who was going to help them and take them under their wing, and that made their challenge even greater."

For once, it wasn't all about the freshmen, a group that includes Eric Paschall (10 points and eight rebounds against the Hawks) and Christian Sengfelder (15 points and nine rebounds), the team's top two rookies.

In so many ways, the season has been about Fordham's youth movement. But Sunday, we were reminded not to forget about the guys who have been through this before, who this time around would like nothing more than to win some basketball games.

"We're maturing, and we're getting better," Pecora said. "That's what this is all about.

"In the beginning of the year, we always say, 'Let's get 1 percent better every day in practice—don't get worse, always get a little bit better.'

"We're on our 76th practice. That's holding true. We continue to get better. We're making some strides in February, and that's when you want to be good."

Pecora is right: The Rams are getting better. Consider that three of their last four losses have been by a combined nine points. They now have an 18-point win over Saint Louis and Sunday's 14-point victory over Saint Joseph's on their record.

It appears Fordham may finally be headed in the right direction.

"This league is wide open," Pecora said. "We just have to keep our mojo going through the month of February, and we could be a dangerous team."

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