By Paul Gotham
BRONX, NY – Tom Pecora was doing an old friend a favor. Just don’t expect the Fordham head men’s basketball coach to over-extend himself.
When Porter Moser and his Loyola (Ill.) Ramblers had troubling scheduling a departing flight, Pecora and the Fordham Rams obliged with an earlier start time.
After the second half of Monday’s late afternoon matchup, maybe Moser would prefer the original schedule.
Branden Frazier and Jon Severe paced a 23-point second-half turnaround as the Fordham Rams bounced back from a weekend loss to defeat the Loyola (Ill.) Ramblers 83-69 in front of 2,959 at Rose Hill Gym.
The backcourt tandem combined for 28 points and eight assists after the break as the Rams shot 57.7 percent (15-26) from the field while limiting their counterparts to 45.2 percent (14-31).
“It was a great come-from-behind victory,” Pecora said. “It was a good for the team. It was a good win for the program. They’re a good basketball team.”
The Ramblers picked apart the Fordham zone defense for the first 20 minutes hitting six-of-10 behind the arc and 16-of-32 from the perimeter. They hit just 2-of-11 from long range in the second half.
“Our zone put us to sleep instead of putting the opponent to sleep in the first half,” Pecora stated. “We didn’t do a good job locating shooters.”
Fordham quickly reversed their fortunes outscoring the Ramblers 9-2 in the first 3:15 of the second stanza.
“We forced tempo by pressuring the ball and playing in our man-to-man for the full second half,” Pecora added. “We got stops and off stops we got great looks.”
Tailing by nine, Travion Leonard started the run with a rebound and putback. On the next possession, Severe found Bryan Smith along the baseline with a pretty no-look pass for a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer. Frazier led Ryan Rhoomes for back-to-back baskets in the lane, and the Rams trimmed the deficit to two at 40-38.
“That was a big game for Jon and Branden,” Pecora continued. “A very good win, a bounce-back win which I think shows some spirit.”
Frazier fed Smith for his second of three treys (all after the break) as Fordham took its first lead since 11:37 mark of the first half at 41-40.
“It felt good,” Smith said of his second half offensive performance. “I just wanted to stay confident and be aggressive, so I could help the team.”
With a drive from outside the arc, Severe gave Fordham a lead it never surrendered at 45-44. After hitting just one of ten shots in the first including one of eight behind the arc, the freshman guard tallied 20 of his game-high 23 in the second half. The Christ the King product connected on 4-of-6 from the floor and all 11 of his free throws.
“He drove the ball a couple of times with a fury to get to the rim,” Pecora said of Severe. “Then he made some great passes.”
“We all did a pretty good job of putting it on the deck more in the second half,” Pecora continued. “We fell in love early with the jumper in the first half. When we drove the ball, we had much better success.”
Severe’s lone trey of the second half proved to be a dagger as the Rams broke the Ramblers’ 1-2-2 three-quarter court press, and the freshman made it hurt stretching the advantage to 69-62.
Frazier and Severe combined to go 12-of-12 from the charity stripe as the Rams put away the game.
Devon Turk sparked the Ramblers with four 3-balls and 14 points in the first half. His third consecutive three tied the score at 15 and his final bomb pushed the Loyola advantage to 31-22.
Smith was given the assignment of shadowing Turk in the second half who scored just three points after the break.
“Just don’t let him get any touches,” Smith said of his defensive approach to the opponent’s leading scorer. “Almost face-guard him. The less touches he gets then it’s harder for Loyola to score.”
Smith finished with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Frazier added 16 points and nine assists.
The Rams outrebounded Loyola 16-12 in the second half. Leonard had a game-high nine boards. Rhoomes chipped in with six rebounds and 14 points.
Fordham dished out 18 assists while committing just six turnovers.
The game was moved to an earlier start time to accommodate the Ramblers and the upcoming Christmas holiday.
“We were concerned about doing the four o’clock game,” Pecora said. “I did it for Porter. He’s a friend. They couldn’t get flights out tomorrow.”
With Loyola leading 38-29 at halftime, the favor didn’t look good.
“Silly me. I said all right we’ll move the game up. Thank God, it worked out.”
Youth groups and CYO teams filled the stands for the rare Monday matinee.
“We had a great crowd today. My assistants did a great job filling the place with youth groups with the students away. I was shocked when I came out to see what a great crowd we had.”
The Ramblers took an 8:40 flight Monday night.
Turk paced the Ramblers with 17. Christian Thomas scored a dozen for the visitors. Cody Johnson added 11.
Fordham fell at Monmouth, 87-78 over the weekend.
Fordham was without starter Mandell Thomas who was on the bench with an injury.
The Rams host Harvard next Saturday. Another 4 p.m. tip time is scheduled.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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