Light Blue Defeats Crimson but Loses Last Home Game to the Big Green

It was supposed to be a perfect home-court send-off for Columbia basketball’s six seniors. Facing a inconsistent Harvard team and a cellar-dwelling Dartmouth squad, Columbia sought to repeat its road sweep of two weeks earlier. A suffocating defense and a pair of dominant inside players rescued a failing offense in the first game, as the Light Blue escaped with a 61-54 win over the Crimson. The stage was set for victory against Dartmouth, following a ceremony honoring the graduation of coach Joe Jones’ first recruiting class. But John Baumann and company would not get the chance to celebrate at home one last time. The Lions, who finished the season with a 7-5 conference—were outplayed by Dartmouth in every facet of the game.

“Obviously we’re extremely disappointed for my seniors to go out this way,” Jones said. “To have their last game in Levien and lose it the way we did. I just feel for those guys right now. That’s really all I can say about that.”

After Columbia scored a quick four to open Friday night’s game, Harvard went on a 17-0 run over five minutes to take command of the game. After four straight misses from outside, Jones quickly went to a smaller lineup, removing Ben Nwachukwu in favor of Asenso Ampim, and replacing his guards.

It turned out that Jones just wanted to give his center some quick advice, and two quick misses inside by Ampim hastened the return of Nwachukwu. The senior scored six straight inside, benefitting from a rare series of good entry passes.

“Coach just told me to be more aggressive and make a quicker move before the double team came, and that’s what I started doing,” Nwachukwu said.

Columbia slowly edged its way back in, cutting the lead below five three separate times before going ahead with one minute left in the first half. The Light Blue went into the break with a 25-23 lead.

After Harvard tied the game to start the second period, Columbia took the lead for good, but the Lions could never quite put the Crimson away. Nwachukwu and Baumann carried an offense that never connected from beyond the arc. The two played off of each other in the painted area, playing a high-low game that did not allowed Harvard to commit on double teams.

“He made shots over the double team, and by him doing that, he opened it up for me,” Baumann said. “But all the credit’s got to go to him.”

With only three minutes left and their team up by 10, Baumann and Nwachukwu had combined to score almost as many points as Harvard’s whole team—they trailed by only two points. Columbia’s poor outside shooting allowed the Crimson back in, and Harvard—desperate for the win—kept fouling down the stretch.

A team defense that kept the Crimson to 41 percent shooting for the night bent but never broke, and Columbia sealed its second consecutive winning season. Nwachukwu finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds on 10-12 shooting, and Baumann added 18 points and 10 rebounds of his own.

“We won. The big thing is we did what we had to do to win,” Jones said. “It was obviously very ugly. Both teams tried to play hard. We did what we had to do in the second half ... we just had to grind it out. We just have to play sharper tomorrow night. We just have to go out and play a better basketball game tomorrow.”

The coach’s words were prescient, but the Lions did not seem to respond to them.

After an emotional ceremony featuring the six seniors’ parents, Columbia came out flat and never recovered. The Lions’ poor shooting carried over from Friday, resulting in a season-low 14 points in the first half. The game was tied at 2-2 until the five-minute mark, and Columbia took a 9-4 advantage with 13 minutes remaining. The Big Green went on a 23-5 run to close the period, aided by 12 Light Blue turnovers.

“I tried to get them to focus on not being so emotional about their last game and focus on things we needed to do to win,” Jones said. “I can’t tell you why we didn’t play as well as we’re capable of playing. I don’t know the reason why.”

Columbia would cut the lead to as little as seven twice in the second half, but Dartmouth went on an 11-1 run midway through the period and never looked back. Baumann and Mack Montgomery finished with 17 and 11 points, respectively, but the team as a whole shot 35 percent from the field and four of 19 from long distance.
Columbia will end its season next weekend at Princeton’s Jadwin Gym and Penn’s Palaestra—the only only two gyms in which Joe Jones and his seniors have never won.