Rhode to ruins: Rams drop another away contest to Fordham

Photo courtesy of gorhody.com and Josh Paiva

Two key points of struggle for Rhode Island this season, slow starts and poor road play, combined for a doomsday cocktail on Wednesday night that sunk Rhody even further down the Atlantic 10 standings.

The 80-79 heartbreaker came down to the buzzer as a late heave from senior guard Sebastian Thomas failed to find the target as time expired. The winner for Fordham came just seconds before, when graduate forward Matt Zona converted a putback attempt with two ticks left on the clock.

The struggles away from the Ryan Center have truly become a dampening aspect for Rhode Island, after its 12-1 start to conference play saw them play only one true road game – you can guess where their lone loss came from.

Since the start of A-10 competition, the Rams have gone 4-7 in conference play, losing four road contests. Rhody did beat Richmond for their only triumph as the visitors back on Jan. 11, though the 67-64 win was not pretty and took overtime to seal the deal.

Rhode Island is now 5-23 under Archie Miller as the guests, and the lackluster start on Wednesday did not help their chances to improve that record. Rhody failed to convert a single point until senior forward David Green drilled a three-pointer 3:35 into the contest, and while they were finally able to score, it didn’t mean that success was sustained.

Rhode Island was blatantly outplayed in the first half, with costly giveaways in transition, poor shooting and porous defense. With 6:26 left in the first half, Fordham led Rhody by 15 points, boasting a 32-17 advantage on the Rose Hill Gym scoreboard.

However, in classic Rhody fashion they found their groove towards the end of the first half, taking a 17-5 run for the final 5:41 of the period. Rhode Island ended up leaving for the locker room with just a two point deficit, trailing the hosts 39-37.

The second half displayed continued success, with Rhode Island capturing their first lead with 17:43 left in the ballgame. Later down the stretch, After a tug-of-war with little to no separation, Fordham capitalized on Thomas missing the first shot of a one-and-one trip to the line, and knocked in the winner much to the delight of the fans from The Bronx.

Rhode Island, despite the loss, continued to produce offensively. Rhody had four players scoring in double-figures, with Thomas leading the way with yet another 20-point performance. Green also contributed 18 points of his own, while sophomore forward David Fuchs put up 16 and senior guard Jaden House reached 10.

Rhody returns to the floor on Saturday when they attempt to tackle George Mason on the road. The Patriots have just one loss in conference play, coming against none other than Rhode Island. The game tips-off at 4:00 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+ with a radio broadcast available on the Varsity Network.