Sweep Extends Lions' Skid to Eight

It was another disappointing night for the denizens of Levien Gymnasium on Friday, as the Columbia Lions (12-11, 3-8 Ivy) fell to the Princeton Tigers (13-11, 4-6 Ivy), extending their losing streak to seven with a 68-59 loss. Despite staying with the Tigers for much of the game, Columbia fell behind as the tempo slowed in the second half, allowing Princeton to dictate the pace.

Columbia started the game hot from the floor, matching baskets with the Tigers for much of the first half. Freshman Brett Loscalzo led the way, hitting jumpers from both sides of the court for seven first-half points. The Lions were able to stay in the game despite star forward Matt Preston sitting for much of the half with foul trouble, after picking up his second foul with 13:27 remaining. The Lions’ best stretch of the night came with just under five minutes remaining in the first half, when senior Jeremiah Boswell hit a deep three followed by a pair of old-fashioned three-point plays from freshman John Baumann to give Columbia an eight point lead, their biggest of the night. Princeton was quick to respond with a 10-0 run to close the half, heading into the locker room with a 34-32 lead.

With the pace of the game noticeably slowing, the Tigers began to assert control in the second half, with sophomore Luke Owings taking charge. Owings scored 14 of his game-high 19 in the second half, while senior guard Scott Greenman chipped in 12 of his 15 in the second set to give Princeton a cushion. Baumann showed up big inside for Columbia, ending the game with 14 points and five rebounds, but the Lions could not find the necessary offense to stay with the Tigers. Columbia pulled to within three with just over 5 minutes remaining, but baskets from Judson Wallace and Mike Stephens iced the game for the Tigers, and the Lions would not get closer.

“We gave up too many backdoor layups, our help-side defense wasn’t great tonight, we didn’t pressure the ball well, we didn’t keep the ball off the foul line like we wanted to—their big guys were at the foul line too much—then we turned the ball over,” Columbia head coach Joe Jones said. “Those were the things that inhibited us from winning the game. Part of the game plan was making sure we limited our turnovers, and take away the foul-line flash, and take away their back cuts. We didn’t do a good enough job tonight.”

In particular, Jones cited Columbia’s inability to protect the ball as a key factor in the second-half run that allowed Princeton to take control of the game.

“They were able to control the game because we turned the ball over so much. I thought that was really the difference in the game: we had 23 turnovers to their 16. The defensive pressure was pretty good for both teams, but we turned the ball over, and that’s what really slowed the game down for us,” Jones said.

Loscalzo agreed with Jones’ assessment of the team’s offensive struggles in the second half.

“This whole season, we’ve been trying to establish the fast break—we’re a fast break team. We got out early in the game, set the tone real quick, and got a lot of open looks, and as the game went on, that went away,” Loscalzo said. “It’s partly my fault—I have to be able to start the break, but there are also situations where we need a bucket, so we’re trying to settle down and execute plays.”

The Lions were also once again at a disadvantage from the foul line; the Tigers took 27 shots from the charity stripe, compared with Columbia’s 12.

“I think, at times, we’re just not in great position,” Jones said. “We have some things we need to continue to work on. I’m not going to make excuses for why we foul as much as we do, but we just need to be in better position and teach our guys how to play pressure defense without fouling. Our goal was to play a little zone tonight, but they made their first threes against our zone, so we couldn’t use that as much as I wanted to.