Fordham Rams News: A-10’s surprise team of the year, Men’s Basketball Faces Dayton in A-10 Semifinals on Saturday

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Fordham enters the game with a 25-7 overall record and is coming off a 69-61 win over La Salle in the quarterfinals on Thursday while Dayton is 21-11 on the year following a 60-54 win over Saint Joseph’s in a quarterfinal game on Thursday.

Saturday afternoon’s contest will be the 41st meeting between Fordham and Dayton on the hardwood with the Flyers leading the all-time series, which started in 1952-53, 34-6, and have won 18 of the last 19 match-ups. Dayton won the lone meeting this year, 82-58, on January 10 in the Rose Hill Gym as DaRon Holmes netted 23 points for the Flyers.

Notes
• Fordham will be playing in its second Atlantic 10 Championship semifinal game since joining the conference in 1995-10996.

• The first semifinal appearance came in 2006 when the Rams defeated Richmond in the first round and La Salle in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals where they fell to Xavier, 70-59.

• The 25 wins for Fordham are the most overall wins since the 1990-1991 team also won 25 games.

• The Rams finished the regular season with a 12-6 Atlantic 10 record, tying Fordham for second, the Rams’ best ever finish.

• The 12 Atlantic 10 wins are the most ever for the Rams (previous high was ten in 2006-2007) and the most conference wins ever (previous record was eleven Patriot League wins in 1990-1991 and 1991-1992).

• The three-seed is Fordham’s best for an Atlantic 10 Championship and the best seed since the 1992-1993 squad was a three-seed at the 1993 Patriot League Championship.

• Fordham head coach Keith Urgo was named the 2023 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year while Darius Quisenberry (second) and Khalid Moore (third were named to the All-Conference team and Kyle Rose was named to the All-Defensive team.

• Urgo was also named a finalist for the Jim Phelan National Coach of the Year Award, presented annually to the top coach in all of Division I, and the Joe B. Hall Award, presented annually to the top first-year coach in the country.

• Grad student forward Khalid Moore is averaging 17.9 ppg over the past 14 games.

• Moore, who recorded his fifth double-double of the year in the quarterfinal win over La Salle, is averaging 15.5 ppg, second on the team and tenth in the Atlantic 10, and a team-best 6.7 rpg, along with 58 assists, 35 steals, and eleven blocks.

• Grad student guard Darius Quisenberry, who scored his 2,000th career point at Richmond, is leading the Rams in scoring at 17.2 ppg, sixth in the Atlantic 10.

• Junior guard Kyle Rose is third in the Atlantic 10 in steals (1.8/game).

• Junior Abdou Tsimbila leads the Atlantic lead 10 in blocks (1.9/game) and is tied for 12th in the Atlantic 10 in rebounding (6.3).

COURTESY FORDHAM ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS