Men's Basketball Gearing Up for Penn, Princeton on Final Home Weekend at Levien Gym
2/24/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK – It is the final home weekend in the decorated careers of men's basketball seniors Kevin Bulger, Patrick Foley and Niko Scott. The Lions will take on Penn on Friday, February 26 at 7 p.m. and then will face Princeton on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 7 p.m. Saturday's game is Senior Night and Fan Appreciation Night, sponsored by Fairway Market with free t-shirts and snacks in Fairway tote bags to the first 1,000 fans entering the gym.
Tickets for both games are available online or by calling the athletics ticket office at 888-LIONS-11. Live video and audio for both games is available on gocolumbialions.com with Jerry Recco and Dalen Cuff calling all the action. Live stats and game notes are also available.
PENN SERIES HISTORY
Series record: Penn leads, 133-83
Series started: 1901-02
Last time out: Columbia, 66-62 (2/13/10)
PRINCETON SERIES HISTORY
Series record: Princeton leads, 138-84
Series started: 1900-01
Last time out: Princeton, 55-45 (2/12/10)
MORE ON THE GAMES
Live Video gocolumbialions.com
Live Audio gocolumbialions.com
Jerry Recco (play-by-play)
Dalen Cuff (color commentary)
Student Radio WKCR 89.9 FM
Tom DiBenedetto (play-by-play)
Destin Jenkins (color commentary)
LIONS LOOK TO CLOSE OUT HOME SLATE ON GOOD NOTE
Columbia will play its final home games this weekend as the Lions host Penn on Friday and Princeton on Saturday on Senior Night. The Lions won at Penn two weeks ago, making clutch plays down the stretch to preserve the 66-62 win on the road. A night earlier at Princeton, Columbia led early and held a four-point lead midway through the second half. The Lions eventually hit a cold spell as Princeton tightened its defense and pulled away for a 55-45 win at Jadwin Gym. Penn is coming off a win over Yale at the Palestra last Saturday, when both Dan Monckton and Jack Eggleston had double-doubles to pace the Quakers. Princeton's loss to Brown last Saturday dropped the Tigers a game behind Cornell in the Ivy race. Those two teams will square off on Friday in Ithaca.
BULGER, FOLEY AND SCOTT PLAY FINAL GAMES AT LEVIEN
Columbia's senior trio of Kevin Bulger, Patrick Foley and Niko Scott have been a large part of the men's basketball program since they have set foot on the Morningside Heights campus. The three guards have combined to start 146 games since the 2006-07 season and have helped lead the Lions to 51 wins and 24 Ivy League wins during their careers in a Lion uniform. It is the most Ivy League wins totaled by a Columbia senior class since the class of 1994, which won 27 league games from 1991-94. This senior class of 2010 also has a chance to surpass the total wins mark of the previous two senior classes of 2008 and 2009, which each won 53 games during their four-year careers. Bulger, Foley and Scott, all co-captains this season, have combined for 1,841 points, 593 rebounds, 541 assists and 213 steals entering Friday's game vs. Penn.
FOLEY BECOMES FIRST MEN'S HOOPS PLAYER NAMED FIRST TEAM ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICA
Columbia senior co-captain Patrick Foley is the first Columbia men's basketball player ever to earn a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first team, it was announced this week on ESPN's Big Monday. A third team Academic All-America last season, Foley has fought through injury to start all 14 games he has played this season and carries a 3.87 grade point average as a history major in Columbia College. Foley earned a spot on the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-America first team alongside Notre Dame's Tim Abromaitis, Cole Aldrich of Kansas, Butler's Matt Howard and Yves Mekongo of La Salle. Despite missing 10 games this season, Foley is Columbia's second-leading scorer, averaging just a shade under 10 points per game. He leads the team in assists per game and free throw percentage and for good measure, the 6-2 Foley has four blocked shots.
NIKO'S CASE
Senior co-captain Niko Scott has scored in double figures 10 times this season and is second on the team in three-pointers made. He recently catapulted into the top ten all-time at Columbia and now ranks ninth all-time at Columbia in three-pointers made in a career. Scott had a monster game at Penn on Feb. 13, pouring in a career-high 29 points in Columbia's 66-62 victory. Scott had 19 of his 29 in the first half and eventually made 10 of his 14 shots from the field, including seven of nine three-pointers. He also had a key basket late in the game that gave a Columbia a three-point lead with three minutes left, helping the Lions seal the road win.
THREE-POINT FG MADE IN A CAREER
| 1. | Matt Shannon | 1985-89 | 189 |
| 2. | C.J. Thompkins | 1993-97 | 181 |
| 3. | K.J. Matsui | 2005-09 | 173 |
| 4. | Erik Crep | 1995-99 | 156 |
| 5. | Craig Austin | 1998-02 | 150 |
| 6. | Gary Raimondo | 1995-99 | 142 |
| 7. | Dragutin Kravic | 2002-06 | 141 |
| 8. | Treg Duerksen | 2000-02 | 134 |
| 9. | Niko Scott | 2006-pres. | 127 |
| 10. | Brett Loscalzo | 2004-08 | 126 |
KEVIN CAN DO IT ALL
The prototypical glue guy, senior co-captain Kevin Bulger has played a critical role recently. Bulger has dished out 2.5 assists per game during Ivy League play, which ranks eighth in league games. He now leads the team in assists this season and is third in steals. Bulger ranks seventh all-time in Columbia history in career steals. Fellow senior Niko Scott is 12th all-time and Noruwa Agho isn't far behind with 72 career steals.
STEALS IN A CAREER
(First kept in 1984-85)
| 1. | Gary Raimondo | 1995-99 | 209 |
| 2. | C.J. Thompkins | 1993-97 | 109 |
| 3. | Craig Austin | 1998-02 | 108 |
| 4. | Justin Namolik | 1995-99 | 101 |
| 5. | Brett Loscalzo | 2004-08 | 95 |
| 5. | Abe Yasser | 1995-99 | 95 |
| 7. | Kevin Bulger | 2006-pres. | 86 |
| 8. | Maurice Murphy | 2000-04 | 80 |
| 9. | Jim Tubridy | 1992-96 | 79 |
| 10. | Buck Jenkins | 1989-93 | 78 |
| 11. | Omar Sanders | 1989-93 | 77 |
| 12. | Niko Scott | 2006-pres. | 74 |
| 13. | Noruwa Agho | 2008-pres. | 72 |
