New York, NY—When these two met a little more than a year ago, Fordham combined its veteran experience and some hot shooting to pull away to a 79-60 win over Howard.  The Bison were led by James "J-Byrd" Daniel and James "JT" Miller, who both came off the bench to score 25 points between them.
 
Fast forward and both teams are vastly different.  The Rams (3-6) have dropped their last two, including a home decision to Manhattan while the Bison (7-7) are off to their best start in a decade and are fresh off an impressive road win over South Alabama.
                 
The game is set for a 6 pm tipoff at Rose Hill Gym and will be broadcast on SNY and Heritage Sports Radio Network (www.hsrn.com)
                 
Fordham does have holdovers Ryan Groomes (7.7 ppg, 10.3 rpg) and Mandell Thomas (13.0 ppg), but the remaining starters are freshmen.
                 
"Fordham is a team we competed with for a half last year, but we couldn't sustain our effort or make the plays necessary to give ourselves a chance to win," recalled Howard head coach Kevin Nickelberry. "They are a talented group with some new pieces, but their inside guys hurt who hurt us last year are back and there's a chance that their best player, Jon Severe may be back after missing most of the early season."
                 
A sophomore-laden team, Howard has begun to establish its identity.  Through the past five games, the Bison have relied on Daniel (16.8 ppg), Miller (13.0 ppg) and transfer James "JC" Carlton (12.4 ppg, 7.7 rpg) for their scoring.  But it has been defense and strong rebounding that has been the key.
                 
Howard is a plus 6 in the rebounding area and ranks among the nation's best in total rebounds.  Much of that can be attributed to the addition of Carlton, the improvement of sophomore Marcel Boyd (6.0 rpg) and the unsung efforts of Damon Collins (5.1 rpg) and reserves Oliver Ellison and Jared Norsworthy.
                 
The Bison's active zone defense has held its opponents to 30 percent shooting from the field and an average of 52 points.  Add to that mix, an average of 3.6 blocks and 8 steals per game and you have the formula that Nickelberry has searched for.
                 
"Defensively, we have progressed a lot since we put in our unique brand of a match-up zone five years ago," explained Nickelberry.  "It's a complicated defense to learn and even longer to master.  We haven't mastered it yet, but the guys have brought into it and we have put the pieces (players) in place to make it more effective.  One of the key things right now is we are getting the energy to run this defense and give ourselves a chance."
                 
As the Bison program takes steps toward progress, Nickelberry cautions that there is still a lot to do.
                 
"Being 7-7 obviously is a confidence booster and tells us that program is moving in the right direction," he says.  "We have been able to reach some goals we talked about as a team coming into the season such as ending the non-conference road losing streak and establishing ourselves as one of the better defensive and rebounding teams in the country. To continue to have success and to reach the other goals we set as a team, we have to stay grounded and continue to live within every play, every day."
 
NEXT UP:  The Bison play at Cornell on January 8 before getting back into MEAC play.     

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