University of Massachusets Athletics
University of Massachusetts
Fordham
Gordon, Esho Push UMass Past Fordham, 82-74
February 28, 2015 | Men's Basketball
UMass vs Fordham Box Score 
AMHERST, Mass. - Derrick Gordon surpassed 1,000 career points and scored a season-high 20 as Massachusetts snapped a 3-game losing streak, defeating Fordham, 82-74, at the Mullins Center Saturday.
UMass (17-12, 10-6 Atlantic 10) outscored the Rams by 12 after halftime and controlled the glass with a plus-14 margin, 42-28.
UMass maintains its fifth-place standing in the league entering the final week of the regular-season.
The Minutemen shot 47 percent in the game and recorded 15 points off seven Ram turnovers in the second half.
One of the biggest momentum swings in the contest came during a 13-0 UMass run early in the second half that saw the Minutemen force all seven of those Rams miscues in a 2:20 stretch. UMass turned a five-point deficit into a 49-41 lead with 14:53 remaining.
Senior Maxie Esho, who turned 24 on Saturday, scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, including 14 and eight in the second half. Freshman Donte Clark also had a strong game with 15 points, four assists and three steals.
Fordham (9-18, 4-12) was led by freshman Mandell Thomas' career-high 29 with 7-of-10 from outside.
Early in the game, UMass went on a 12-0 run, which included three Gordon layups and 3-pointers from Jabarie Hinds and Zach Coleman to claim a 17-11 lead.
The Rams came back to within one at 20-19, capping a 8-3 run with a wide open Thomas triple from the left corner with 7:35 in the period.
Consecutive points in the paint by Thomas and Ryan Rhoomes broke a 27-27 deadlock and gave Fordham the lead with 2:40 left. The Rams used those buckets to spark a 12-4 run and grab a 37-31 advantage before a Hinds jumper in the lane beat the buzzer. Fordham led 37-33 at the half.
Following the run early in the period that saw UMass retake the lead, the Minutemen maintained that edge through the remainder of the game, in spite of some strong shooting from Thomas.
Gordon produced back-to-back buckets (his first two of the second half) to put UMass up 75-70 with just over two minutes to play and Clark made two free throws to grab a seven-point lead.
Bryan Smith made a pair at the line for Fordham and Jon Severe got a fast break layup to cut the lead to 77-74. After a Clark offensive foul gave the ball back to Fordham with 42.1 left, Thomas badly missed a 3-pointer while falling away from the right wing that all but ended the comeback hopes.
Gordon made 5-of-6 from the charity stripe in the final 24 seconds to secure the victory.
The junior ended the night with 1,016 points, which includes 412 scored as a freshman at Western Kentucky in 2011-12. Esho can join him in the 1,000-point club as soon as Wednesday as he now has 991 points following a combined 29 points in the last contests.
UMass will host Richmond Wednesday night in the final regular-season game this year. Seniors Cady Lalanne and Esho will be honored prior to the 7:30 tip-off at the Mullins Center.
