Men's Basketball Falls To LIU

The fourth time was not a charm for the Columbia men’s basketball team. The Lions (1-4) had won their past three consecutive matchups versus the Long Island University Blackbirds (2-1), but this year they were not so fortunate. Columbia dropped the game, 70-60.

Last year, Columbia took the prize with a commanding win of 90-63 at Levien Gymnasium. This year, the statistics suggest that the Light Blue could have handily won the game—the Lions made three more field goals (22-19), double the number of threes (10-5), and clearly had more assists than the Blackbirds (16-7). However, LIU was able to exploit Columbia’s high number of penalties and scored on 27 of an unusually high 36 attempts from the foul line.

The game began with the Lions in control of the tempo, making a 10-point run early in the first half to leave the score 16-6. However, several minutes later, LIU answered with a run of its own, outscoring Columbia 15-5 and making the score 27-26, Blackbirds. The game remained fiercely competitive, and at the half was tied up, 35-35.

After the half, the Blackbirds came out of the locker room shooting well and they never looked back. They dominated the game with an 8-0 run less than three minutes into the second half and continued to extend the lead. With less than six minutes remaining, Columbia attempted to bring the game back, hoping for a change of momentum off a sophomore guard Niko Scott three-pointer, but to no avail. The teams traded baskets and the game ended, LIU winning by 10.

The Blackbirds were led by senior center Kellen Allen, who scored 19 points and was just shy of the double-double with nine rebounds. Freshman guard Kyle Johnson did get the double-double, with 10 rebounds and 14 points of his own.

For Columbia, senior forward Ben Nwachukwu—who set his own career high of 25 points last year against LIU—only managed a paltry 12 points this outing. Columbia’s other main scorers for the night were Scott, who contributed 14 points, and senior forward John Baumann, who added 10. Many players who are typically high-scorers for Columbia—Mack Montgomery, Patrick Foley, and Joe Bova, among others—were notably absent from the high scorers. In addition, the Lions rebounds were spread evenly, no player getting more than three on his own.

The loss to LIU extended the Lions’ losing streak to three, after dropping games at Ohio State and at Albany this past week. The team full of seniors that once held promise of an Ivy title may already be fading away.

However, redemption is not far away. This coming Saturday, the Lions test out the water once again on the road versus Stony Brook. The Seawolves (0-4) are rebounding from Sunday’s 65-56 loss to American University. Key players include senior guard Ricky Lucas, a transfer from George Washington University who scored a game-high 17 points against American, as well as freshman forward Jermol Paul, who added 14 in the same game. While Stony Brook is currently winless, the team has lost several extremely close games, one at home to Lafayette in overtime and another at Maryland Eastern Shore by a single point.

The Lions take on the Seawolves in Stony Brook, N.Y. at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24.