Men's basketball dealt 79-64 shellacking by Yale

The Columbia men’s basketball team was unable to repeat last night’s comeback performance, falling to Yale 79-64. The loss drops the Light Blue to 2-4 in the Ivy League (8-12 overall), its worst start since the 2005-2006 season.

The Lions started slow again tonight, as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 15-4 lead in the first six minutes of play. Though Columbia was able to cut Yale’s lead to six at 9:57 with a free throw by junior forward Asenso Ampim, the Bulldogs took a 19-point lead into to the half.

Yale was on fire offensively, shooting 54.8 percent from the floor, 50 percent from behind the arc, and 91.7 percent from the charity stripe. Columbia wasn’t as successful, shooting 42.3 percent form the field, 16.7 percent from long, and 54.5 percent from the free throw line.

For a while, it seemed as though the Light Blue might be able to pull off another come-from-behind victory, as it cut the Elis’ lead to 12 with 12:41 left to play. But the Lions’ offensive struggles continued, as they made only 27.6 percent of their field goals.

An offensive bright spot for the Light Blue was sophomore guard Noruwa Agho, who put up 30 points on 7-18 shooting. Half of Agho’s points came from the 15 free throws he made, 14 of which came in the second half.

Yale outplayed Columbia defensively, as well, out-rebounding the Lions 46-27.

The Light Blue will kick-off a four-game road trip next Friday when it heads to New Jersey to take on Princeton.