The New Year’s Eve festivities started a little early at Rose Hill Gym.
Fordham was able to end 2012 on a high note after dispatching Monmouth 82-71 last night, thanks to a spirited second-half comeback in which the Rams outscored the Hawks, 54-38.
“I think the difference was we came to life in the second half,” Fordham coach Tom Pecora said. “[This] was another way of learning how to put a game away. It was gut-check time for us. It was important for us to come out, to be down at the half and show that we can come back into a game.”
The biggest difference from the first half was the play of Chris Gaston and Bryan Smith. Gaston, one of the team’s few upperclassmen, scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the second half after Pecora turned up the heat on him in the locker room.
“I told Chris he had to take the game over at halftime, and he did a good job in the second half of getting position to make good plays,” Pecora said. “He responded and that’s key.”
Gaston also rallied his fellow Rams to pick up a victory that marks the second straight year Fordham (4-10) has notched a winning non-conference record at home.
“At halftime, we all huddled up and said we have to protect our house,” Gaston said. “We showed a lot of courage and played a lot harder than we did in the first half.”
And on a night when the world watched the ball drop in Times Square, seemingly every ball Smith shot in the second half dropped as well.
“When Bryan Smith makes shots, we win a lot of games,” Pecora said. “You should have heard what I was saying to him at halftime to get him motivated.”
Whatever Pecora said to Smith worked. After shooting just 1-for-6 from the field in the first half, the sophomore guard erupted to go 4-for-6 on 3-point shots in the second half for a season-high 18 points.
“I just know that if I miss a shot, I’m going to make the next one,” Smith said. “I just keep thinking positive for the next shot. I never lost confidence; I know I’m a good shooter.”
In addition to Smith and Gaston, Fordham received strong performances from sophomore center Ryan Canty and freshman guard Mandell Thomas.
Canty, who has been dealing with back issues all season long, provided quality minutes off the bench and dominated in the paint, finishing with seven points and three blocks to go along with his game-high 14 rebounds.
“Canty did a great job. I thought in the second half that was huge for us,” Pecora said. “Canty’s been lost for the last couple of games. It’s nice to see signs of life there.”
Once again, just over a week after a monster block that saved the Rams at home against Siena, Thomas dazzled with two blocks against the Hawks (5-8) that caused the crowd to ooh and aah.
“He’s done a pretty good job defensively,” Pecora said. “Obviously another game where he made a bigtime block late in the game and you see his explosiveness. He’s a sick, freakish athlete.”
Fordham will head to play Ole Miss on the road Friday before returning home on Jan. 9 to start Atlantic 10 play against Duquesne.