Columbia
St. Peter's
12/28/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Peacocks (6-5) concluded the game on a 16-5 run and matched their biggest lead of the game when Todd Sowell hit a layup with five seconds left in the game to complete the scoring.
The Lions took their final lead when Justin Armstrong, who finished with 20 points, drove baseline for a layup to give Columbia a 49-47 advantage with 5:24 to play. It was the team's first lead since 12:00 of the second half.
Columbia (6-5) had trailed by as many as nine points in the first half, but scored the final 10 points of the first half, keyed by eight points from K.J. Matsui in the final 5:48.
The Lions led 32-24 at halftime and went up 10 points when sophomore Ben Nwachukwu drove for a layup to start the second half. The Lions' center scored all four of the team's points in the first 6:50 of the half.
Derrick Hooker sank an eight-foot jumper at 12:00 to give St. Peter's a 39-38 lead. It was one of six lead changes in the game, which also featured six ties.
Columbia was plagued by 27 turnovers. The Peacocks had only 12.
"We had a chance to expand the lead in the beginning of the second half," Columbia head coach Joe Jones said, "and we weren't able to do it because we turned the ball over too much."
The Lions out-rebounded their opponent, 37-29, led by John Baumann , Nwachukwu and Brett Loscalzo , who had six each. For Loscalzo, it was a career high in the category. Armstrong's 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting plus 3-of-4 from the free-throw line was also a career high. Nwachukwu added 13 points, and was one of just four Lions to score in the second half as St. Peter's out-scored Columbia 39-22 after halftime.
The Peacocks' Keydren Clark, who led the nation in scoring in each of the last two years, had a game-high 23 points.
"Keydren Clark was 5-for-21 and, if you told me he was going to be 5-for-21, I would have thought we would win the game," Jones noted.
The Lions return to action Monday, January 2, when they face Lehigh at home at 7 p.m.
