Light Blue Drops Ivy League Opener

While the majority of Columbia students were enjoying their vacations, the basketball team worked hard to prepare itself for the beginning of its conference schedule. The Lions played five games and came out with a 3-2 record during winter break, highlighted by an impressive stand against Villanova and a win over Polytechnic where the team scored 109 points.

The Light Blue entered into the Ivy League basketball season on Saturday with hopes of defeating the preseason favorite, Cornell(9-5). Despite being the underdog, the Lions came out fighting as they started the game with a 7-0 run, a lead they maintained for the next 10 minutes. The next two minutes provided a 7-0 run for the Big Red, evening the score at 24. At the end of the half, the score was tied at 31.

The excitement of this game continued in the second half. The teams traded baskets for the next 12 minutes, at the end of which Cornell gained a lead that never exceeded six. With one minute left, the Lions continued to fight hard, pulling within three, but this effort would prove to be too little as they fell 70-64. During the second half, both teams shot well over 50 percent fro the field.

Despite coming out on the losing side, this game should be a springboard for the Lions’ Ivy League season—the Lions did not lose on the offensive end, an issue which faced the team earlier on in the season. Although Columbia made more three-pointers and field goals than the Big Red and dominated the offensive boards, the fatal blows came from the foul stripe, where the Lions were wildly out-shot. While the Lions made only five trips to the foul line, Cornell visited it 23 times and connected 19 times.

In a game with six ties and 13 lead changes, small mistakes turned out to be costly. The normally sure-handed Lions made several uncharacteristic mistakes, turning the ball over 14 times, leading to 13 of the Big Red’s points.

Senior forward John Baumann had a great all-around game, as he had his second double-double of the season with a game high of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Baumann also had a team-leading four assists.

This loss comes as a heartbreaker to the Columbia squad, but the Lions will have a chance for retaliation next week when Cornell comes to Levien Gym on Saturday night for the teams’ second and final meeting of the season.