After more than three weeks away from Rose Hill, the Rams finally return home this afternoon against Siena.
Fordham (2-9) comes into the contest having played just one game at the historic gym, which provided the Rams with a strong home court advantage during non-conference play last year.
“I’m excited because we have 20 games left and 10 of them are at home,” Fordham head coach Tom Pecora said. “It’ll be good to get home and hopefully we’ll have that as an advantage for us.”
Last season Fordham rattled off three straight home wins at the end of December and into January, including an upset of nationally ranked Harvard. After Siena, the Rams face Georgia Tech on the road and return to The Bronx to face Monmouth on New Year’s Eve.
“I hope [this is like our stretch last season],” Pecora said. “I tell this team and we talk each day about how all we can do is win tomorrow.”
A return home represents a continued momentum boost for Pecora’s ball club, which won in thrilling fashion last week against Princeton at the Barclays Center in star senior forward Chris Gaston’s return to the team.
Gaston will get his first taste of Rose Hill this season against the Saints. Gaston missed the Rams’ only other contest at Rose Hill while recovering from left knee surgery in November.
“I’m really excited to get to play at home in front of our fans friends and family, I love playing at Rose Hill and looking forward to a good game,” Gaston told The Post.
Today’s game will be a test for the surgically repaired knee, but Pecora does not expect the quick turnaround after the 88-73 loss to UConn to be a problem.
“I made a decision last night when the game got out of hand to only play Chris 8-10 minutes in the second half,” Pecora said. “We’re trying to get him in game shape, he was good in practice today and after the early game tomorrow, the guys will have a full three days to recover.”
In addition to picking up its first win since Nov.19 and Gaston’s return, Fordham has watched Branden Frazier morph into the player many thought he would be entering this season. Frazier scored 19 points in the 63-60 win over Princeton and added a career-high 26 points against UConn on Friday night.
“We need Chris and Branden playing at a high level, we need to keep Canty playing consistent like he has and then there’s the fourth and fifth spots open,” Pecora said.
Frazier leads the Rams in scoring, averaging 16.5 points per game and is a shade under 18 in Fordham’s past seven contests, but the rest of the Rams guards have struggled to provide consistent play.
“Mandell Thomas, Jeff Short, Bryan Smith or Jermaine Myers, one of them has to step up and play at a higher level,” Pecora said. “But again, you’re talking about three freshmen and one sophomore.”
Fordham believes it is better than the 2-9 record it currently sports and attributes it just as much to outlying circumstances as it does the play on the court.
“We definitely have some scars from this non-conference schedule,” Pecora said. “I tell these guys that our record is as much due to the schedule and injury as it is to the play.”
Siena (2-9) enters the contest on a seven-game losing streak and lost last year’s game to the Rams 74-59.