Last time out on Saturday, the Explorers dropped a 78-67 decision to Rhode Island at Gola Arena. La Salle actually led this game by 10 early in the second half, but then Rhode Island went on a 28-6 run to take control of the game.
"They made some really difficult shots in key moments of the game," La Salle head coach Ashley Howard said of that burst for URI. "And I felt like our guys, we had some opportunities where we had some easy shots and easy opportunities to convert, and we didn't. The momentum shifted, and I give all the credit to Rhode Island. Those guys felt the shift in momentum, and they jumped on us towards that middle portion of the second half."
The loss dropped the Explorers to 3-14 on the season overall and 1-4 in the Atlantic 10. Despite the struggles when it comes to wins and losses, Howard says he sees some things coming together for his group.
"I think defensively we've been really good the last month," he said. "We've gotten better defending the ball. I think we've really gotten more comfortable with our defensive schemes. We're at the point now where we can really lock in defensively and follow a scouting report, so that's encouraging.
"The one area where I think we need to improve is, I think we just need to score the ball," he added. "We're running good offense, I think we're getting good shots, now we just have to find a way to convert those."
Fordham is 9-9 on the season overall, but the Rams are 0-5 in the A-10. They love to shoot the three, averaging 26.4 attempts from behind the arc a game (they are shooting 35 percent on those attempts).
"It's definitely going to be a game that comes down to their perimeter firepower versus our perimeter defense," Howard said. "I think our guys will be ready. But it's another game in conference play here, it can go either way. We have a very competitive conference from top to bottom and Fordham is definitely a team that is going to come into the game ready to battle, and we've got to be ready to respond when they make a run."
Last season, La Salle won both meetings with Fordham.
Wednesday night's game in the Bronx will get underway at 7 p.m.