Seniors Lead Lions to Decisive Victories

Joe Jones has made consistency the buzzword for Columbia’s men’s basketball’s season. He’ll have few complaints now, after watching his team sweep back-to-back weekends for the first time in a decade, beating Dartmouth 59-50, and Harvard 73-64.

After a blowout loss against Cornell, Columbia has arguably been playing its best basketball of the Joe Jones era, and a win against Brown next weekend would put them in second place in the Ivy League. John Baumann once again led the way for the Lions, averaging over 22 points and 11 rebounds over the weekend.

“We’re playing with a lot of confidence now,” Jones said. “I think they know that they’re capable of winning any game they play now.”

In Hanover on Friday, Dartmouth struck first with a three-pointer inside the first minute and took a quick 5-2 lead. A slow, sloppy pace kept both teams in single digits for the first ten minutes with the Big Green holding a narrow lead, until a Mack Montgomery jumper put the Lions up 15-14 with just under nine minutes left in the half.

Columbia stretched its lead to 24-14 with 5:23 left, forcing turnovers and keeping Dartmouth scoreless from the field. The Big Green responded with a run of its own, outscoring the Lions 10-2 to cut the lead to two points going into the break.

Dartmouth did so despite shooting only 32 percent from the field, but its strength on the offensive glass and turnover problems for the Light Blue gave them additional chances. Baumann led all scorers with 15 points and had four rebounds in the half. His counterpart on Dartmouth, Alex Barnett, was held to only two points, troubled by strong defense from Mack Montgomery and Kevin Bulger.

Columbia stretched its lead back out to five in the first four minutes of the second half, but Dartmouth came back and kept a one-point lead as late as 10 minutes into the half. A balanced Columbia attack, with contributions from Baumann, Bulger, and Niko Scott, gave the Lions the lead for good, 47-45, with five minutes left.

The Big Green kept close, but Bulger hit a jump shot with 37 seconds remaining to stretch the lead to seven and seal the win.

Columbia’s defense never faltered, holding Dartmouth to 32 percent shooting for the night. Barnett, the league’s third-leading scorer going into the weekend, finished with 14 points on 6-18 shooting from the field.

The following night at Harvard, it was Columbia’s seniors who carried the team as Montgomery, Baumann, and Ben Nwachukwu combined for 59 points.

The Light Blue led for most of the first period, but in the final five minutes of the half, a 10-point Crimson run put them up 34-29. After being almost shut out in the first half with only two points, Baumann took over the game for the second straight night. The senior forward scored 18 points, combining with Montgomery and Nwachukwu to lead a very efficient offensive attack to come back from a nine-point deficit. For the second straight night, it was the Lions’ defense that saved the night, holding the Crimson to 30 percent shooting in the second half.

“The defensive intensity cranked up,” Montgomery said. “When we got stops, we knew we were able to score any time because we got a post presence like him [Baumann] and Ben.”

More importantly, Columbia didn’t commit a single turnover in the second half after giving the ball away nine times in the first half.

The Lions return home next weekend to face Brown and Yale.