Atlantic 10 Basketball power rankings: UMass tumbles while Dayton soars up

9. Fordham Rams – 9-7 (2-2)

The perennial bottom-feeder of Atlantic 10 Basketball has looked much more competitive throughout this season and made headlines in the opening week of league play, going 2-0 for the first time in program history with wins over La Salle and Duquesne.

In the eight-point victory over the Explorers, senior guard Darius Quisenberry had a game-high 19 points, while big man Chuba Ohams got 15 points and 11 rebounds. And in the close win over the Dukes, both Quisenberry and Antonio Daye Jr. each had 16 points, with Daye getting the game-winning layup at the end.

It turned out to be the last thing Daye did for Fordham, as 24 hours later, he withdrew from the school. He was averaging a team-leading 16.8 ppg and 3.3 apg and his loss are devastating for the Rams going forward. It’s now up to Quisenberry and Ohams to provide the bulk of the offensive production for the team.

And since the Rams lost Daye, they lost to both Saint Louis and Richmond to get back to .500 in league play. Both are good teams so they could’ve lost to them with Daye as well but now the projections of Fordham change the rest of the way. And it doesn’t get easier going forward, with Davidson and Dayton coming up.