Barclays Center —Will Richardson scored a season-high 20 points and Antrell Charlton chipped in five points during a 10-0 run in overtime as No. 12 seed Fordham took down No. 13 seed Davidson 71-63 on Tuesday to begin the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.
With the win, the Rams (13-19) has advanced to at least the second round of the A-10 Tournament for the third straight season, they will play No.5 seed VCU. In 2021-22, the Rams received an opening round bye and defeated George Mason to punch a ticket to the quarterfinals. Last season, Keith Urgo’s first as head coach, Fordham earned a double-bye before reaching to the semifinals with a win over La Salle.
Behind their second 8-0 run of the day, Davidson pushed the margin to as many as 13, 37-24, with 14:49 to play but the Rams settled down and played great perimeter defense.
Fordham guard Kyle Rose tied it at 61-all on a layup with 2.1 seconds left in regulation. Charlton opened overtime with a 3-pointer as Fordham scored the first 10 points. Davidson’s only points in overtime came on Connor Kochera’s basket in the closing seconds.
“All season, my teammates and my coaches had the utmost confidence in me, knowing that I haven’t had the best season, haven’t been playing my best, but just keep encouraging me giving me that confidence to be the best I can be. Just having that– going to the second half and knowing that we got nothing to lose. We got nothing to lose, and a desperate man is a dangerous man.” Fordham Will Richardson said.
Richardson shot 6 for 14 (3 for 8 from 3-point range) for the Rams. Josh Rivera finished 6 of 7 from the field to add 14 points. Abdou Tsimbila had nine points and shot 3 of 8 from the field and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line.
Kochera led the way for the Wildcats (15-17) with 24 points, seven boards and two steals. Grant Huffman poured in 12 points and five assists for Davidson. Reed Bailey had 11 points.
Defensively, Davidson held the Rams to just 35 percent from the floor and finished with 10 blocks, six coming from sophomore Sean Logan.
