Fordham went on a huge run late in the second half and two big dunks from Abdou Tsimbila sealed the 72-67 victory for Fordham on Wednesday in New York City.
The Rams, who advanced to 7-1 on the season with all wins coming at home, went on a 15-3 run and took a 61-57 lead with about four minutes left in the game.
Tsimbila finished an alley-oop from Darius Quisenberry and then got another dunk on the next Fordham possession to answer a made basket from UMaine and with 48 seconds left the Rams had a 68-65 lead. Quisenberry drilled two clutch free throws for the Rams and with 21 seconds left Fordham held a 70-65 lead.
Freshman point guard Jaden Clayton made two free throws late, but Quisenberry hit two more free throws of his own with 11 seconds left to clinch the victory. He led the Rams with 18 points, with Khalid Moore adding 16 in the win.
UMaine falls to 4-3 on the season with all losses coming on the road. The Black Bears were paced by Gedi Juozapaitis’ 19 points. The fifth-year senior took over the first half for UMaine.
He went on his own 7-2 run against Fordham, starting with a strong layup after a fake pass in the lane, a 3-pointer and then an up-and-under layup on the baseline to give UMaine a 22-17 lead with 8:25 to play in the first half.
Kellen Tynes followed up a Fordham free throw with a pull-up jumper from 12 feet on the right side that put UMaine ahead 24-18, its largest lead of the game to that point.
Juozapaitis hit another 3-pointer with 4:11 left in the first half to finish the half with 15 points. The bucket also gave the Black Bears a 29-24 lead.
Milos Nenadic then hit a 3-pointer and gave a point to his defender to put UMaine up 32-24, the team’s largest lead of the first half.
After two free throws and a layup from Moore, UMaine’s freshman point guard Jaden Clayton scored a reverse layup with two seconds left on the first half clock which put the Black Bears ahead 34-28 at the half.
Kristians Feierbergs was a late scratch from the lineup due to an illness, but Ata Turgut, who has been slowly returning into the rotation after missing the team’s first three games due to an ankle injury, stepped into the forward spot and scored three points in the first half.
Turgut followed a 3-pointer from Ja’Shonte Wright-McLeigh with a three of his own to start the second and half just 3:16 into the half the Black Bears held a 40-32 advantage.
From there, Fordham went on a 10-2 run finished with back-to-back layups in traffic by Moore to make it 42-42 with 11:40 to go. It was the time the Rams had tied UMaine since 2-2. Fordham hadn’t held the lead since it briefly had a 14-13 advantage with 11:30 left in the first half.
With 11 minutes left, Kyle Rose hit a layup to give the Rams a 44-42 lead.
Fordham’s head coach Keith Urgo disagreed with a call with 10:42 left in the game and was charged with a technical foul. Juozapaitis hit one free throw from the technical and then Peter Filipovity hit two more for the foul before the technical that gave UMaine a 45-44 lead.
The foul shots were the start of a 12-2 for the Black Bears, with Juozapaitis hitting another 3-pointer from the corner and Tynes and Filipovity both hitting buckets. With 8:10 left, UMaine led 54-46.
The game swung and it was Fordham’s turn to go on a run.
Antrell Charlton scored a mid-range runner and then a smooth turnaround jumper to give Fordham a 56-55 lead with 4:41 to play.
Filipovity answered with a jumper of his own, but Fordham’s Zach Riley made his second 3-pointer of the game to give the Rams the 59-57 lead with 4:05 to play in the game. The Rams would hang onto the lead for the rest of the contest.
UMaine will travel to London to play Marist College on Sunday.
