Fordham’s (12-20) starting backcourt terrorized Rhode Island (18-13) early and often en route to becoming the first 15 seed to win an Atlantic 10 Tournament game, winning 88-71 on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.
Sixth-year Japhet Medor and fourth-year Jackie Johnson III combined for 55 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Medor himself dismantled Rhode Island’s rotation as he drew enough fouls to have four Rhode Island starters in foul trouble well before the game was over. An early change of plans and lack of physicality put Rhode Island down by 22 points with 6:47 left in the first half.
“Those two guys dominated the game if you really want to break it down,” Rhode Island head coach Archie Miller said. “We had no answer for them, individually or as a team, to be able to contain them.”
Miller is right. Those two absolutely dominated the game, specifically the first half when Fordham made 14 free throws by the time Rhode Island took 18 shots, only making six of them. Overall, it was Fordham’s best first half of the season as they scored 49 first-half points, the most Rhode Island has allowed this season.
Eventually, Rhode Island began to make a comeback as they outscored Fordham 34-18 over 12 minutes, cutting Fordham’s lead from 22 to six. However, that’s where the magic stopped for Rhode Island, as the Rams only made four of their next 17 shots, with Fordham outscoring them 29-21 over the final 14 minutes.
“Over the course of the last couple of months, we have gone on runs and at some point, we break and can’t stop the run,” Fordham head coach Keith Urgo said. “Today, we were able to stop the run. We never broke.”
The only part of Rhode Island’s game that didn’t break was fourth-year Jaden House and the bench unit. House shot a woeful three of 15 from the field but knocked down three 3-pointers and 10 of his 12 free throws, finishing with 19 points and six rebounds.
Second-year David Fuchs and fourth-year Quentin Diboundje led the bench unit. The two combined for 31 points, 14 rebounds and two steals; their plus-minuses of negative three and negative four were the best for Rhode Island.
Fuchs is a key part of Rhode Island’s future, and Miller must convince him to stay. It’s also imperative that the Rams add size in the off-season, as they were physically dominated early and often in this one. Fordham outrebounded Rhode Island 42-38 and had eight more defensive rebounds.
“The next step is playing with the big boys like we’re supposed to be doing on defense,” Miller said. “Identifying size and length across the board so we can be bigger and play bigger and play better defensively in games like today.”
Fordham will now play George Washington (20-11) in the second round of the A-10 Tournament. That game tips off at 5 p.m. ET Thursday on USA Network.
As for Rhode Island, Archie Miller is still searching for his first postseason win after three seasons in Kingston. The Rams lost five of six games to end the season.
