When you hear Branden Frazier speak it is hard to imagine that the soft-spoken Brooklyn product can instantly transform to a ruthless floor general like he so frequently does.
The crowd at Rose Hill Gym got to see that transformation first-hand as Frazier scored 16 points to go along with a career-high 13 assists in helping power Fordham to an 82-75 win over Duquesne on Wednesday night.
“I think this was his best game as a floor general,’ Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said. “This is the kind of balance we need. 13 assists and one turnover, you can’t ask for more than that out of your point guard.”
For Frazier, it was his second career double-double. His last came against Siena earlier this season, also a home contest. When asked what was clicking for him, Frazier did some more dishing, only this time it was compliments, not the ball, which he was passing off to his teammates.
“I was just trying to get guys open,” Frazier said. “It was the guys, they were finding open spots, I was kicking [it to them] and they were making [shots].”
In his junior season Frazier has assumed the role as the team’s co-leader alongside senior forward Chris Gaston who, for the majority of his time at Fordham, has had to do the heavy lifting for the Rams.
“He’s a great floor general,” Gaston said. “He’s always doing something right. During the game he’s telling people what they have to do. It’s so much easier having him by my side on the court.”
He even drew compliments from Duquesne’s head coach Jim Ferry, who was coaching LIU-Brooklyn while Frazier was wreaking havoc at Bishop Loughlin.
“I think Branden has turned into a fantastic player,” Ferry said. “I’ve seen that coming over the last couple months. He’s just gotten better and better and the fact that he’s playing point guard as well as he is, that’s a real credit to the kid. I’m happy for him.”
While Frazier was the key cog in the offensive attack, the Rams (5-11, 1-0) played as complete a game as they have all season. In particular, Fordham was able to dominate the paint against the undersized Dukes (7-8, 0-1).
“I thought it was a total team effort,” Pecora said. “We’re simplifying things a little bit, they’re getting to know the offense better. I think we did a good job of controlling tempo.”
The Rams’ frontcourt, led by Gaston (18 points) and sophomore center Ryan Canty (12 points) out-rebounded Duquesne 49-34 and had 44 points in the paint compared to the Dukes’ 28.
“This was the first game Chris and Ryan both had big games together,” Pecora said. “I thought we had a great presence inside.”
Fordham got another strong defensive showing from freshman guard Mandell Thomas (eight points), who has developed a flair for the dramatic. With Fordham leading 79-71 with under a minute to play Thomas swatted a Sean Johnson 3-point attempt out of play that helped preserve the Rams lead.
“He’s a big time athlete,” Pecora said. “He’s becoming a good defender. I thought Mandell really toughed it out.”
The win marked the first time Fordham has won its Atlantic 10 opener since 2005, when it beat Dayton 66-56 at Rose Hill.
“Everybody was fired up during warm-ups,” Gaston said. “It’s our time now, we’re going to start getting wins against [A-10] teams.”
Fordham improved to 3-1 at home this season and the players are relishing the fact that they will get to play more home games than road games for the rest of the season, including Sunday against UMass.
“I think it’s good to be home,” Frazier said. “The guys felt good about being home. The league will be tough but we have to get these two wins now and this was the first one.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com