Fordham steals Battle of the Bronx on last-second jumper

Nick Honor's game-winning jumper in final seconds helped Fordham escape Manhattan with one-point victory over Jaspers in 111th Battle of the Bronx. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

RIVERDALE, NY -- With three freshmen among his top four scorers, Jeff Neubauer would be easily forgiven had he decided to call a timeout in the final seconds of his Fordham team's annual skirmish with crosstown rival Manhattan.

However, the fourth-year coach's confidence in one of his first-year talents -- who just happens to be a multiple-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week and the Rams' leading scorer -- paid off when it was needed most.

Nick Honor's jumper with four seconds remaining in regulation, after Fordham elected to play through its final possession without a stoppage, tilted a seesaw battle the way of the visitors once and for all, stealing the lead -- and ultimately, the victory -- away from the host Jaspers in the 111th Battle of the Bronx Saturday evening, Fordham walking off the Draddy Gymnasium floor with a 57-56 triumph over Manhattan, its fourth in the last six meetings between the two schools and Neubauer's third in four attempts since replacing Tom Pecora in 2015.

"We know where the ball wants to be," Neubauer said as explained his thought process behind eschewing the opportunity to set up a play with a timeout. "We're going to put the ball in Nick Honor's hands, there's absolutely no question about that. There's no question what we're going to do, so there's really no point in calling a timeout. This time, it worked well."

Honor's 13 points were second-most for Fordham (6-1), trailing only Antwon Portley's 14 markers. Portley, who had prior experience against Manhattan from his first two seasons at the Jaspers' Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival, Saint Peter's, earned Doc Johnson Most Valuable Player honors for complementing his production with seven assists against only two turnovers on a night where the Rams kept the basketball under control and limited a low-scoring Manhattan team to 39 percent shooting as the Jasper defense made it hard for Fordham's high-octane attack to fully engage.

"One word we really talked about with our team coming into this game was poise," said Neubauer, citing the hostile and raucous road environment he and his team walked into. "The absolute key to winning here in Draddy was going to be value for the ball, because Manhattan was number one in the country coming into the game at forcing turnovers and turnover percentage. I don't think I did a great job preparing our team to attack the zone, however, our players really took care of the basketball."

After giving up an 18-8 start to Fordham, echoing back to the 2014 edition of the rivalry, where the Rams started on a 16-4 run before Manhattan's full-court press set the tone for a runaway victory at Barclays Center, the Jaspers (2-5) adjusted, once again locking down on the defensive end in the form of allowing just three field goals over the final 11:18 of the opening stanza. All in all, Manhattan uncorked a 19-7 run, fueled by its stingy matchup zone and suffocating pressure, ultimately taking a 27-25 lead at the intermission after Warren Williams and Bud Mack accounted for two-thirds of the home team production.

A 10-2 Fordham spurt swung the tide back toward the visiting bench, and the Ram advantage would swell to as many as seven points before Manhattan would chip away, this time receiving contributions from Ebube Ebube (seven points, 10 rebounds) and Pauly Paulicap (15 points) in the latter's first significant action of the 2018-19 season. In fact, the two forwards scored the Jaspers' last eleven points, with Paulicap's post move off an assist from Tom Capuano finally bringing Manhattan all the way back and into the lead, at 56-55, before Fordham's fortuitous final trip down the floor.

"Our offensive numbers aren't where you want them, but I have great faith in the young men," Steve Masiello conceded as the Jaspers matched a season-high point total, but ultimately fell one point short. "I think the ball's sticking a little too much at times, I don't think we're moving it as fluidly as we want to, and that happens with new players. We'll get it."

"I'm not going to go crazy over statistics right now. It's more about getting these guys to regroup and getting ready for the next game."

Manhattan's next effort comes Wednesday, when Stony Brook comes to the Bronx to continue a three-game homestand for the Jaspers, but Fordham returns home with arguably its most battle-tested win of the year, and one where its aforementioned value for the ball played a major role in scoring a potentially critical road win.

"It's simply where we are, and the fact that, value for the ball-wise, we only had 13 turnovers, that's something I'm really proud of," Neubauer reiterated. "Everyone has had trouble attacking Manhattan's zone, but our guys did what we asked, and they took care of the ball."