The Maryland Terrapins offset a sluggish offensive first half with stellar defensive play, then found their shooting touch and routed the fiesty Fordham Rams, 66-50 at Xfinity Center.
After beating their last two opponents by 30 points, Maryland struggled to score in the first half. Fortunately their defense was steady. After Jake Layman (12 points) hit his second three of the half, making the score 11-5 with 15:14 to play the Terps went ice cold.
Their next basket came at the 9:24 mark, a three-pointer by freshman Jared Nickens which gave the Terps a 16-11 lead. Nickens led the team in scoring for the first time in his career with 13 points.
That basket was followed by another scoring drought and their next basket was a tip in by Dez Wells (eight points) with 4:30 to play making the score 18-15. A Nickens three at the two minute mark made the score 23-16 and a Fordham steal and bucket made the halftime score 23-18 in favor of the Terps.
What helped Maryland in the first half was a defensive effort that held the Rams (1-2) to a 22.6 percent shooting percentage from the floor. The Terps guarded the three point arc, holding the Rams to a dismal 2-12 from long range.
Meanwhile, the Terrapins regrouped at halftime and came out on fire. They scored on their first four possessions. Freshman Melo Trimble (eight points) hit a three with an assist from senior Wells. Layman made a layup and Richaud Pack connected on another three. Fordham scored a three but Maryland came right back with a bucket to make the score 33-24 at the 17:02 mark.
The Terrapins got the final spark they needed from Layman. After dunking on his last basket, he swipped the ball and dunked again at the 13:29 mark, igniting his teammates and the crowd giving his team a more comfortable 39-24 lead.
Nickens then hit the next two jumpers for the Terps giving his team a 43-28 lead with 11:49 to go. The Terrapins were also spurred on by 7-1 freshman forward Michal Cekovsky who displayed some fancy footwork around the basket and had his best game of the season. His dunk gave his team a 45-31 lead, and he also had two layups, the last one giving his team a 55-37 lead with 3:27 to play in the game.
From there the Terrapins hit their free throws and won their third straight home game of the season.
Defensively, the Terps excelled holding Fordham to 19-62 shooting for the game, while they shot 52 percent in the second half. The only blemish was going 3-11 on three point attempts in the second half.
Maryland’s Pack had a stellar all-around game. He led the team with eight rebounds, had four assists and one steal to go along with his nine points.
Fordham was led by forward Ryan Rhoomes and guard Mandell Thomas who both scored 14 points. Bryan Smith had a team-high nine rebounds in a losing effort.
