Columbia ends season with a surge of momentum

With less than three minutes to play on Friday night, it looked as if the Lions were going to close the season with another weekend of offensive futility. Despite it being the conclusion to Kyle Smith’s first season and the end of the line for four contributing seniors, the Lions were punchless, having scored just 50 points on 35 percent shooting. Worse, they were 1-for-6 from the charity stripe.

Yet in a matter of seconds, Columbia emerged from a weeks-long slump, forcing two overtimes against Yale before falling 87-81, and then dominating Brown 91-74 on Saturday.

The two performances rank as the Light Blue’s best offensive showings in league play, and secured the program’s third winning season in 28 years.

“It’s great ‘cause it’s what I’m going to remember,” senior Asenso Ampim said. “I’m not going to remember the earlier games, I’m not going to remember games from two years ago. This is what I’m going to remember.”

A winning record seemed almost preordained after a 9-5 nonconference record and a 3-1 opening to the league season, but losing streaks of three and four games in Ivy play left the Lions in a precarious position. They needed a weekend split both to lock up a winning record and to avoid falling into sixth in the league standings.

For much of Friday night, it seemed like the Lions might continue their downward spiral. They fell behind 12-0 and trailed the whole way, even without a strong performance from Yale’s star, forward Greg Mangano.

“It’s upsetting,” Noruwa Agho said on Friday night. “We feel like we’re a better team and we just let guys get ahead.”

Brian Barbour and Agho, who have had to carry the offensive load all season, were silent for most of regulation. While Zack Crimmins and Meiko Lyles kept the Lions in it with 27 points collectively, Agho and Barbour combined for just nine in the first 37 minutes and change.

Barbour saw fit to change that, taking over the game by attacking the rim and getting to the free throw line. As the third-best free throw shooter in the country, that strategy proved effective. He scored 10 of the game’s next 11 points to bring the Lions within one.

Then it was Agho’s turn. Trailing 65-62 with 14 seconds remaining, Agho sank a deep three to send the game into overtime. After Barbour fouled out with 3:47 left in the extra period, Agho scored the Light Blue’s next nine points to force another overtime.

In the final frame, the Lions had endless opportunities around the basket, but could not convert any of them, missing their first four shots from the field. That was all the Bulldogs needed.

“We had that stretch where we were down one for about two or three minutes,” Agho said. “I might have missed a layup, that one to Zack got blocked, one to Asenso got blocked, and those three layups, before they took a three-point lead, I think that was the big difference.”

Smith said he had no idea what to expect after such a loss, but what he got the next night was a transcendent performance from Agho and an all-around offensive explosion.

Agho scored 24 points in the first half, making 10 of 11 field goal attempts and four three-pointers. He finished with 31 points, a career high.
“You know when he’s in a zone,” Smith said. “When he just gets going it’s get out of the way and let him operate. It was fun to watch.”

Agho’s hot start helped the Lions to a 51-31 lead at the half, and the game would never again get closer than 15.

Like Agho, both Barbour and Lyles carried over their scoring from Friday, finishing with 15 and 16 points, respectively.

“At least now a few people understand why we play Meiko,” Smith said. “He’s been struggling, I mean, he’s a freshman so...he’s a good defender, he can hit threes, he can stretch the floor, and he’s easy to play with, so that’s good.”

Lyles emerged from a quarter of freshman guards as the starter alongside Agho and Barbour by the season’s end. All four of them—Lyles, Steve Frankoski, Dyami Starks, and Van Green—will need to improve even more by next year given the graduation of Ampim, Crimmins, Max Craig, and Brian Grimes from the front court.

Sophomores Mark Cisco and John Daniels are sure bets to take the seniors’ spots, but the list after that is pretty thin.

Yet before moving on to next year, the team is still basking in the glory of this one. Picked to finish seventh in the league by the media, the Lions finished tied for fifth in the Ivy League and overall one game over .500—both improvements over last year.

For the seniors, Smith said he sees them as “part of hopefully what was the genesis of a program that’s going to be a consistent winner.”

“That’s our hope, that’s our goal and they can hold their heads high. They had a big part in that,” he added.

With the league’s profile rising and schools around the league loading up on talent, now it’s just up to Smith and company to deliver.