Something was different at the Rose Hill Gym Sunday afternoon when the Fordham Rams opposed Duquesne. Fordham head coach Keith Urgo wasn’t on the sidelines serving the second of a four-game suspension due to recruiting violations.
And the Rams in desperate need of a Atlantic-10 Conference win got their first, 65-63, when Josh Rivera hit a 3-pointer with 24 seconds left. The Rams got their first conference win in seven games, much needed and without their coach.
“You want to win these types of games,” said interim coach Tray Woodall. “Ton of credit to the team, they battle tough every single night. They battled, brought the best side of us tonight,”
Sounded much like postgame comments that usually come from Urgo, though Woodall has a different tone and is more subtle. Perhaps he was taking in the moment of leading his team to their first conference win at the Rams historic home court in the Bronx.
But with Urgo on the outside looking in unexpectedly, the violations still not clarified, the head coach gave Woodall his blessings to take over on an interim basis. He has been around the men’s basketball program and apparently Urgo has been a good mentor and made that congratulatory phone call.
“Focus was on the guys,” Woodall said about taking over for Urgo. “Guess it set in after we won. Last shot looking to get the best available shot, Josh was down and ready to shoot. He earned the right to handle that shot. “
A good win for the Rams and their interim coach. The Rams are last in the conference, and Urgo has said his guys are always battling. There is plenty of time to move up in the conference standings before the head coach is back guiding the Rams. though the A-10 schedule does not get easier.
Awaiting the Rams are conference games Wednesday at La Salle and Saturday at St. Bonaventure. With a tough road to climb in the standings, games they can win. But for now, the Rams will take this win with their interim coach and try to gain momentum.
“I would say this, I didn’t think our guys lost confidence,” Woodall said. “We been in a lot of close games. Guys I see in practice did not look like a 0-6 team. They’re doing everything to be successful. Our goal to be successful end of year.”
He mentioned success at the end of year, not today. Perhaps Urgo would not have said today, then again the comment could have been about motivation. Urgo in his third year at Fordham is always optimistic and never berates his team, even during the rough stretch of conference games that have seen the Rams lose this month to St. Bonaventure, VCU, Davidson, and a 3-overtime loss to UMass last week on the 100th anniversary of the Rose Hill Gym’
But this win also snapped a six game losing streak, all coming in the conference. Rivera added six rebounds for the 9-11 Rams, Japhet Medor scored 14 points added six rebounds with seven assists, and Romad Dean had 12 points.
A good team win for sure and Rivera came up big with the opportunity. Sitting near Woodall he said he waited for the right moment. The coach continued to stare at the stat sheet and did not interrupt his junior forward to comment. Urgo, on the other hand commands the post game pressers first and ends with his usual comment of “Go Rams or Go Fordham.” Different styles for sure, and perhaps Woodall could be in line for a head coaching role at Fordham or elsewhere.
Leave that for another day because Rivera is a spark to the Rams offense. He can take control and the guys get the ball to him. Woodall knew that and so did four other guys on the court.
The Rams made just one basket over the final 6:29. Rivera made the most important one and the ball did not get in the hands of team leading scorer Jackie Johnson III, who scored 10 points and has nailed double figures in 19 of his 20 games this season.
“It was exciting for me after the slow start and first half, my fault,” Rivers said as he briefly interrupted his coach.” It was executing and doing things I can do, I was ready for the shot. We all trust Jackie to take those type shots. We all know the attention he draws. We all should be ready for the kickout.”.
Yes, things were different Sunday afternoon. The Rams got possession when they were needed and the focus on offense of taking a decent shot at the end got them a win.
They trust Woodall. And they won this type of game without their head coach, though he is missed.
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