After a road-heavy non-conference schedule, Fordham is getting a return to normalcy with A-10 play starting.
Having played just three true home games in their first 15 contests, the Rams will trade in road trips to Texas, Georgia and Mississippi for the friendly confines of their historic gym beginning on Wednesday night against Duquesne.
The Dukes (7-7) present the Rams with one of the best chances they will have all season to pick up a win in conference play. Fordham had three A-10 wins last year and did not pick up its first until the middle of January against Rhode Island.
“Any win in conference is very important for us,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “To play this one at home. It makes it that much more important because you know your opportunity to win at home is much greater than your opportunity to win on the road, especially with a much younger team.”
In a schedule that Pecora called “bizarre,” the Rams have played three games at Rose Hill entering conference play. Fordham will play 10 of its next 16 contests at home.
One of the Rams’ A-10 peers, St. Louis, finds itself on the other end of the spectrum, having played 12 games at home during its non-conference slate. The last time the Billikens played a road game was against Washington on Nov. 28.
“It’s frustrating having to go on the road and play 12 on the road,” Pecora said. “You get beat up going on the road.”
Fordham has already taken its fair share of bumps and bruises on the road this season, losing star forward Chris Gaston for a month after he underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. Gaston was limited to just 16 minutes in Fordham’s 95-68 loss to Ole Miss due to soreness and is battling a cold, but he is expected to start vs. Duquesne.
In Gaston’s absence, Branden Frazier has become the team’s leading scorer and the same way Fordham begins a push for the conference tournament in March, Frazier begins his bid to become an all-conference player after fizzling out late last season.
“I thought last year he was going to be an all-conference player. He had great numbers going into February and they waned later in the month, but he probably should have been,” Pecora said. “He’s excited about playing with the ball in his hands, he’s making better decisions, I have no complaints about Branden Frazier.”
Frazier and Fordham cannot afford to look past Duquesne, however.
Despite a 1-5 road record, Duquesne comes into Rose Hill with several motivating factors, including homecomings for leading scorer Sean Johnson and head coach Jim Ferry, who coached at LIU-Brooklyn prior to joining the Dukes before this season.
“Duquesne’s good, Jimmy’s got them playing very hard, he and I are very good friends,” Pecora said. “They’re similar, he’s got a young team, three freshmen account for 40 percent of his offense. Sean Johnson’s a Christ the King kid so he’s going to come in and try and play well, dominate the game. It will be a good challenge for us.”
asulla-heffinger@nypost.com