CU Tries to Finish Season at .500 Mark

If the Columbia men’s basketball team wants to reach the .500 mark for the third consecutive season, it’ll have to do so shorthanded.

After three straight losses on the road, the Lions will play their final two games of the season at home against Princeton (12-12, 7-4 Ivy) and Penn (9-16, 5-6 Ivy). Not since 1977-79 has Columbia—stuck on six Ivy wins this season since Feb. 19—rolled off three straight .500-or-better seasons in league play. With a win against either the Quakers or Tigers, the Lions can guarantee seven conference wins and at least a .500 record. The Light Blue will have to make due, however, without point guard Patrick Foley and forward Asenso Ampim.

Foley, who has missed seven games this season, aggravated his foot injury last weekend against Dartmouth. The junior guard was barely able to play in the second half, contributing only seven second-half minutes in spurts of around three minutes each. Foley’s injury has affected the team immensely. The Lions have relied heavily on freshman Steve Egee to fill the point-guard role while rotating in Kevin Bulger—a shooting guard—at the position.

Ampim first injured his ankle early in the first half against Princeton. The forward has tried to play against Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale, but missed both games last weekend. His injury has hurt Columbia’s front-line depth at the forward spots behind and alongside Jason Miller.

Without Ampim, the Light Blue have gone mostly with a four-guard look. While this smaller lineup has the ability to stretch out the opposition and create open looks for 3-point shooters such as KJ Matsui and Niko Scott, the lack of size has affected the team on the defensive end.

Since they made the switch against Harvard, Columbia has been out-rebounded by an average of 10.5 boards per game. Yet the Lions are going to have to rely on the same lineup this weekend. Joe Bova is only half speed because of a back injury, and the inexperienced trio of Zack Crimmins, Issa Mase, and Matt Johnson is on the rotation for the front line. Columbia will probably play a quarter to a half of the game with Bulger, Matsui, Scott, and either Egee or Noruwa Agho all in the lineup at once.

With a smaller lineup, the matchups against Penn and Princeton will be noticeably different from those that took place one month ago. In the last game against the Tigers, the Lions were blown out early as their opponents jumped out to a 14-4 lead en route to a 63-35 win. Princeton’s methodical offense and tight defense forced Columbia to shoot a measly 16.7 percent from the field in the first half (37.5 percent for the game). Combating Princeton’s smaller lineup with one of its own, however, might allow Columbia to reverse the trend this weekend.

Columbia has a fairly inexperienced roster without Foley and Ampim, and Bova is unlikely to play much­—as such, going against the Princeton offense might prove difficult. The intricacies of defending the Tigers’ offense could prove difficult for a freshman, such as Masse or Johnson, to pick up quickly.

Saturday’s game, meanwhile, will give the Lions an opportunity for their first sweep of the Quakers since 1968. Earlier in the year, Columbia defeated Penn 74-63 at the Palestra for the first time in seven years. In the contest, Columbia received a balanced attack from three guards—Scott, Foley, and Matsui—as well as a great performance from Miller, who was able to out-muscle Penn forward Brennan Votel for 21 points and 10 rebounds.

To garner a similar outcome, the Light Blue must again force its opponent to shoot poorly, as it did in the second half. During that half, the Quakers shot only 39.1-percent, including 1-for-6 from behind the 3-point line.

For the Lions to pick up that seventh league win, they may need to rely more heavily on the 3-point shot. With only Miller as an offensive threat in the paint and with their need to play with four guards, the Lions will look to shooters like Agho, Matsui, and Scott for big games.
Tip-offs are both scheduled for 7:00 p.m. at Levien Gymnasium.