Men's Basketball Posts Second Consecutive .500 Record in Ivy League

Coming off a season that saw Columbia's men's basketball team post 16 victories (the most since 1992-3) and seven in the league, expectations were high going into this year. The media placed the Lions fourth in the preseason poll and many considered them a team that could contend for the Ivy League crown. Finishing 14-15 overall and 7-7 in Ivy play, the Lions were never really in contention for the championship, but they did post their second straight .500 Ivy season.

Early in the nonconference schedule, it did not look like the Lions would be able to meet their lofty expectations. While Columbia kept it close with NIT champion Ohio State in Columbus, and NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen participant Villanova, the Lions were handed blowout losses to lesser opponents such as Fordham, Albany, Sacred Heart, and Lafayette.

A season-ending injury to sophomore Patrick Foley not only hurt Columbia during its first 15 games, but his absence affected the team's depth come Ivy League season. The inconsistency that led the Lions to a 7-8 nonconference record continued into the Ivy season.

Facing the top two teams in the league three times in their first four games, the Lions struggled out of the gate. After a close game at Cornell, in which Columbia lost 70-64 despite stellar performances from both John Baumann and Mack Montgomery, the Lions were blown out at home against the Big Red 72-54.

Following an impressive victory at Yale, in which senior point guard Brett Loscalzo showed improvement in all facets of the game, he fell sick and could not play in the Brown game. His absence hurt the Lions as they lost to the Bears 68-63.

Back-to-back weekend sweeps of Dartmouth and Harvard, and Penn and Princeton marked Columbia's first four-game winning streak in Ivy League play since 1997. However, the Lions were unable to continue the hot streak, as they fell to second-place Brown at Levien. Columbia was unable to maintain a four-point halftime lead, as the Bears dismantled the Lions in the second half, outscoring them 38-19. A modest two-game winning streak, with victories over Yale and Harvard, set Columbia up for a possible 10-win season in the Ivy League.

Despite having beaten the Big Green rather easily in Hanover, the Lions played arguably their worst game of the season on Senior Night as Dartmouth went on to a 16-point win.

Coming into the Penn and Princeton series, the Lions had only two wins against Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium since 1971 and just seven at the Palestra since 1955. Without history on their side, the Lions were still favored to beat a last-place Princeton squad, and an inexperienced Penn team. Yet history held its pattern. The two losses put the Lions at 14-15, 7-7 in league.

The Lions were paced by Baumann, their all-Ivy League and all-Metropolitan Area forward. Baumann led the Ancient Eight in scoring during league play, averaging 17.8 points per game, while averaging fourth in rebounds (7.1 per game), and second in field-goal percentage (52.9 percent). Despite not finding his three-point touch for much of the nonconference schedule, sophomore Niko Scott finished second on the team in scoring with 7.7 points per contest.

Despite losing Baumann, Ben Nwachukwu, Montgomery, and Loscalzo to graduation, the Lions still expect to post another solid season, behind the play of Scott, Foley and K.J. Matsui next season.