No. 22 Harvard Loses to Fordham - NYTimes.com: "The nonconference victory by the Rams (7-6) ended their 54-game losing streak against ranked opponents. The last time Fordham defeated a ranked opponent was on Feb. 26, 1978, when the Rams beat No. 18 Georgetown, 63-59.
Fordham already has won as many games this year as it did under Tom Pecora last season, his first at the university, and the Rams have beaten two notable opponents in a row. They defeated visiting Georgia Tech, 72-66, last Thursday.
“This place is a pit,” Pecora said of the cozy gymnasium in the Bronx, which was loud Tuesday even though students are still on semester break. “It can be for us what Cameron is for Duke.”
Then, as winter break descended upon Fordham’s Gothic campus, a team that features seven freshmen and four sophomores began to jell. The win over Harvard was the Rams’ third in a row, following defeats of Texas State and Georgia Tech. All at home in their little slice of New York basketball history.
Rose Hill Gym, with a capacity of 3,470, opened in 1925 and is the oldest gymnasium still being used by a Division I team. And, perhaps fitting for a team that plays in one of New York’s basketball landmarks, Pecora has assembled a squad that relies heavily on talent from the tri-state area.
Eight of the 15 players on the Rams’ roster are from New York City. Against Harvard, the starting lineup featured four players from Brooklyn and one — Chris Gaston, the team’s leading scorer — from Union City, N.J.
“That’s the only way I’ve ever done it,” Pecora said. “I’m New York, born and bred. Born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens. Live on Long Island, coach in the Bronx. Hang out in Manhattan, drive through Staten Island.”
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