Improved Defense Keys Columbia Triumphs

In Saturday night’s game against Brown, the action was fast and loose during the first half. The Bears grabbed 23 rebounds and made 12-of-26 field goal attempts en route to 29 first-half points. Columbia, facing a slight deficit going into halftime, played what has become the trump card for the team in the second half by clamping down on defense.

The Light Blue hounded Brown for the entirety of the second half, forcing the Bears into 8-of-27 shooting from the field, including an ice-cold 2-for-10 from beyond the arc. Columbia also forced 18 Brown turnovers overall, while committing just eight of their own.

Junior guard Niko Scott credits a step-up in intensity for the team’s defensive effort. “We take it upon ourselves as a personal challenge to not be the person that makes the error,” he said. “So we all work together and help each other so that we all work as one.”

One of the areas in which that intensity manifested itself was on the glass. After being out-rebounded 23-9 in the first half, the Lions knew they would have to battle harder on the boards to win. “I thought in the first half, they [the Bears] had some offensive rebound putbacks that really improved their average,” said Columbia head coach Joe Jones. “I thought that was the big thing—they crushed us on the glass. So that has to be our focal point.”

Columbia was successful, posting a much-reduced rebounding deficit of 19-16 in the second half, despite the height advantage that Brown possessed. The near-parity in rebounds also reduced Brown’s second-chance opportunities, which took away high-percentage shots for the Bears and contributed to their much lower percentage from the field.
The workhorses for the Lions inside were senior Jason Miller and sophomore Asenso Ampim, who had 14 rebounds combined. “When I’m going against a guy that’s the same height as me or even a little bigger, it’s a challenge, a motivation, to step in harder, to move my legs harder,” Miller said.

The efforts of the big men inside were matched by the guards on the outside. Of Brown’s 18 turnovers, Columbia’s guards were able to force 10 steals for the game, while totaling 15 assists on 24 field goals. On-the-ball pressure on the defensive end by junior guards Kevin Bulger and Scott, and spirited ball movement on the offensive end, wore down the Brown backcourt later on in the game. “I think a big thing is keeping the pressure on them, keep wearing them down,” junior guard Patrick Foley said. “Your legs are tired in the second half, those jump shots aren’t falling.”

Jones praised his team’s discipline for maintaining aggressiveness on defense while avoiding foul trouble for most of the game. Jones credits this discipline with stopping Brown junior Matt Mullery, in particular, who scored just eight points on 2-for-11 shooting, well below his season average of 16.1 points per game. “Matt Mullery is a terrific player and I’ve seen him play against some of the better teams [like] Providence and he’s scored,” he said. “I think our guys did a great job of having a concerted effort of not letting him get layups.”

In both games this weekend, the Lions were able to hold their opponents to sub-30 percent shooting in the second 20 minutes. Scott summarized it best, saying that sustaining such efforts is the key to Columbia’s goal of finishing in the upper echelon of the league this season.

“If you want to be considered one of the better teams in the Ivy League, you have to win these back-to-backs to prove it,” he said. “It’s a stepping stone towards being in contention for the Ivy League title down the road.”