Men's Basketball

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.

Sydney Johnson’s face said it all. Here he was, a coach who had just broken a nine-game losing streak at the Ivy League’s most storied basketball program, and he knew was about to get grilled.

For a moment, it seemed as if the sporting fates had conspired to gift the Columbia seniors just a few more unexpected minutes of college basketball.

By every measure, the seniors playing their last games for Columbia this weekend comprise one of the most successful classes in the history of the men’s basketball program.

After ranking twelfth in the entire nation last season in three-point percentage at an astonishing clip of 40.2 percent, the Lions have struggled at times behind the three-point line.

For the first time in 20 years, a team not named Penn or Princeton has claimed the Ivy League’s spot in the NCAA Tournament by winning the league crown.

Coming off a split with Brown and Yale, Columbia (14-13, 7-5 Ivy) continued its quest for its first over-.500 campaign since 1992-93. However, the eight win has proven to be elusive, and the Lions will have to continue their quest next weekend after a weekend split against Harvard and Dartmouth.

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.

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.

Still undefeated in Ivy play, Cornell continued its red-hot campaign last weekend with victories over Yale and Brown to begin a four-game home stand.