Men’s basketball (13-9, 4-5 Atlantic-10) fell 79-65 to Fordham (12-10, 3-6 A-10) Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center, marking the Revolutionaries’ second consecutive loss.
Head Coach Chris Caputo said postgame the loss was not only physical but mental as well. Coming off Tuesday’s defeat to Saint Louis, the Revolutionaries also had to contend with the absence of their top defensive rebounder, redshirt senior forward Rafael Castro, who was sidelined with an injury — factors Caputo said contributed to the team’s lack of energy on the court.
“In theory, you should have great confidence after our performances last week, but again, I don’t think today it was confidence,” Caputo said. “It was potentially a little bit of feeling sorry for ourselves in a moment when we tried to get them to not feel that way.”
Caputo said Castro injured his foot in practice on Thursday, and it is currently unknown when he’ll return to the court.
Fordham outrebounded the Revolutionaries 16-10 on the offensive glass and 30-18 defensively. Junior guard Bubu Benjamin led GW in rebounding despite playing through an injury sustained during Thursday’s practice, Caputo said.
“Basketball is funny. The basketball gods always throw things at you. For me, it’s been 25 years of, ‘Oh, your best rebounder — the best rebounder in the league — is out, and now you’re going to play the best rebounding team.’ That’s just how it works. You’re always being tested, and you have to respond. We didn’t respond well enough today,” Caputo said.
Redshirt sophomore guard Christian Jones was the top scorer of the day, notching 13 points, while redshirt junior forward Garrett Johnson and graduate forward Tyrone Marshall Jr. netted 11 points each.
Caputo said numerous players are currently dealing with injuries and that the team has been unable to engage in live-contact practice.
“Again, I just didn’t think we were up for it physically, the way I wish we would have been again, that has to change, because I don’t know how much we’re going to be able to do going forward, but that certainly was the case today.”
The first half of the game consisted of lots of back-and-forth play with the lead switching between the Revs and Rams every couple of minutes. The largest Revs lead was four points and came with six minutes left in the first half. A buzzer beater three by Jones ended the first half, leaving the Revs only behind by a three-pointer, 34-31.
The Rams started to pull away in the second half, securing a lead of 39-31 just two minutes into the half. Multiple three-pointers by Jones narrowed the deficit, only to be followed by more Fordham baskets that ultimately led them to take the lead.
Their largest lead of 14 points would come with just 1:30 left in the game.
Caputo said the team panicked with their shots in the second half, which led to poor on-court decisions.
“We panicked a little bit there,” Caputo said. “Some turnovers there and then also actually shot a few in there. I thought our choices there were not as good again.”
The team has just four days to step up their play before their next match on Wednesday, Feb. 4, against the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in Philadelphia.
