Columbia
WAGNER
Five Lions in Double Figures Lead Men's Basketball to Win Over Wagner
11/18/2014 9:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
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NEW YORK - Five Lions chipped in double figures to lead Columbia to a 70-56 win over Wagner in Columbia's home opener at Levien Gymnasium on Tuesday, November 18.
First-year Kyle Castlin led all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the win. Castlin also pulled down six rebounds, four on the offensive glass.
Castlin took the game over out of the gates, scoring nine of Columbia's (1-1) first 11 as the Lions went up by seven at the 13:21 mark of the first half. Columbia took its largest lead, 31-15, after back-to-back treys by Steve Frankoski and Maodo Lo just 4:36 before the break.
The Seahawks (0-2) trimmed the deficit to 10, but Jeff Coby punctuated the half with a nice reverse layup and the Lions went into the locker room ahead 35-23.
Columbia shot 52-percent from the floor and limited Wagner to 36-percent in the opening stanza.
After Wagner pulled within 37-29 at the 17:429 mark, the Lions ripped off an 8-0 run to build the margin back up to 16 with 15:28 remaining.
From there, the Seahawks turned up the intensity on the defensive end and held the Lions without a field goal for over 10 minutes. However, their aggressiveness sent Columbia to the foul line, where they went 9-of-10 to remain in front by two-plus possessions the entire stretch.
Lo broke the drought off an isolation play at the 3:20 mark and Castlin effectively put the game out of reach with a trifecta in front of the Lions' bench with 1:55 to go, giving Columbia a 61-49 advantage.
The Lions shot 20-of-23 from the charity stripe and limited the Seahawks to just 10 attempts for the game. Columbia led for all but 40 seconds in the contest and have only trailed for a total of 1:18 seconds in its two games.
Cory Osetkowski posted 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Isaac Cohen recorded nine boards and dished out five assists. Lo set a new personal-best with five steals.
The Lions will return to action at Lehigh on Sunday, November 23 for a 2 p.m. contest. Be sure to listen to all of the action on the Ivy League Digital Network.
