After earning a difficult split last weekend against Brown and Yale, Columbia (13-12, 6-4 Ivy) will play its final two games at home on Friday and Saturday against Harvard and Dartmouth.

Last weekend Harvard (8-18, 3-7) ended a seven-game losing streak by sweeping Penn and Princeton at home. Against Princeton, Harvard fell behind 61-53 with only 2:28 remaining before going on an 8-0 run, finishing with a Jeremy Lin layup with 9.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime. Once in overtime, the Crimson outscored the Tigers 13-6 to pick up their seventh win.

The next night at home, Harvard pummeled Penn in the first half, outscoring the Quakers 45-28 in the opening frame. In that contest, the Crimson shot 53.7 percent from the field, and 92.6 percent from the free-throw line to earn its first Ivy weekend sweep since February 25 and 26 in 2005.

“Harvard played a great game against Penn,” Columbia head coach Joe Jones said. “They really are playing well.”

The Crimson were led by the trio of Lin, Brad Unger and Evan Harris. The three averaged 56 points per game while contributing 18 rebounds per contest. In Columbia’s first meeting with Harvard in Cambridge, the three were neutralized by Lion defenders.

Drew Housman was able to scorch the Lions with 25 points and 7 rebounds. However, Harvard had an extremely difficult time stopping the Ben Nwachukwu and John Baumann down low, as they combined for 36 points and 15 rebounds. If the Lions look to repeat their 73-64 victory against Harvard, they must establish Nwachukwu and Baumann in the frontcourt in order to get Unger and Harris into foul trouble, as they did in the opening game.
Dartmouth (9-15, 2-8) is coming off a split of Penn and Princeton, in which the Big Green ended a seven-game losing streak by scoring a 19-point victory over Princeton – something that, because of the Princeton offense, is very difficult to do.

The biggest difference in last weekend’s games was that Dartmouth was able to make shots in the Princeton game but could not muster enough offense in the Penn game. Against Princeton, the Big Green was able to make 54.3 percent of its shots, including 54.5 percent from behind the three-point line. However, against Penn, they made only 35.8 percent of their shots.

The two leading players for Dartmouth are Alex Barnett and DeVon Mosley. Last weekend, Barnett averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds, while Mosley averaged 15.5 points per contest.

In Columbia’s first matchup with Dartmouth, Barnett scored 14 points, but he did so on 6-of-18 shooting because of Columbia’s strong defense, and he grabbed 10 rebounds (3 offensive). Mosley also had a horrific shooting night, scoring 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting. For the Lions to have a similar outcome, they must stop both Barnett and Mosley.

“We always have close games against Dartmouth,” Jones said.

Further, against Dartmouth, Bauthough, and much smarter. Loscalzo runs a very efficient offense, and always has, but he makes fewer mistakes now. He’s aggressive when he needs to be, and can dictate the tempo of the game. Montgomery’s been a solid role player with the occasional great game, but has improved significantly as a defender. Sweet never really became a regular fixture in the offense, but had his moments as a sub.

Only Baumann made that leap that we wanted to see in all of them that night. He kept improving and evolving, becoming an All-League player and eventually a player of the year candidate. He’s a player that enough can’t be said about. The others formed a solid supporting cast, but not all that much more (though Baumann would never let you know, one of the more genuine cases of humility there is).

All those hopes we had for them that night, and their sophomore year when they swept Penn and Princeton in a pair of spectacular games, they’ve faded a bit. Cornell will eliminate them from contention with a win in either game this night. They’ll almost certainly have Columbia’s first pair of back-to-back winning seasons since 2001. They have an excellent chance at the team’s best record in 15 years.

And if you believe Baumann, they’re hardly thinking about the title that slipped away, a product of the think one game at a time mind-set Jones preaches.

“You realize in the back of your mind that Cornell is in the driver’s seat,” Baumann said. “But when you play for a program for so long with this mind-set, when you realize you’re not going to accomplish what you want to do, it doesn’t change our approach at all.”

So what is the contribution of this core of seniors? Some what-could-have-been’s, some missed opportunities, some signs of progress?

There have been other Columbia teams that have won big games, had some success, and the program has never really changed. Every great season has reverted back to mediocrity, then to failure.

To understand what’s happened, you have to see the way they interact with one another; it’s this kind of inseparable loyalty you don’t see out of teammates all that often.

“I think we’ve all formed a family, a brother relationship. It’s not just one of these things I’m saying to be cliché, it’s been one of the things about us,” Baumann said. “It’s a bond that I’ll never end up sharing with anyone in my life. I have a genuine love for those guys, and I think they’d say that as well.”

People attend more games now, the attitude towards the team is different, and Baumann has a strong conviction that this time the program will stick, echoing Jones. That’s where they may be different‑ their legacy. Their success has bred a different perception towards
Columbia, and that will no doubt be a powerful recruiting tool. As Baumann said, it does sound cliché, but it’s hard to make the case that the friendship between the six guys didn’t bring more talent to Levien. Watching Asenso Ampim last weekend reminded me of Baumann’s breakout game four years ago, that same weekend. They certainly won’t be as good next year, but the program will be in some capable hands.

We projected far enough that night that they would inevitably fall short of the possibilities we set for them. It’s taken a while, but finally, there have been more ups than downs. The program has a future, and it’s because of the six guys playing in their home uniforms for the last time.

“They deserve so much credit for the success of the program and they really have made their mark,” Jones said. “The program is in much better hands now since they’ve been a part of it.”