Columbia
YALE
Yale Hangs On To Pick Up 63-59 Win Over Men's Basketball
1/30/2015 11:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEW YORK – Two Ivy League Player of the Year candidates put on a show in front of a packed Levien Gymnasium and television audience in Yale's 63-59 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team Friday night. The Lions' Maodo Lo netted 20 points, going 6-for-8 from 3-point range, while Justin Sears scored a game-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds and three blocks for the Bulldogs.
Columbia (9-8, 1-2) came out focused from the get-go, connecting on their first four shots, and eventually took an 11-2 lead with 14:36 left in the half. Yale (14-6, 3-0) responded with a 7-0 spurt, capped by a Sears' dunk to make it a two-point game at the 11:27 marker.
Kendall Jackson's 3-pointer with 8:59 before the half, brought the lead back up to 19-14, but the Bulldogs had another rally left in them. Sears tied things up with a steal and score, followed by triple from Jack Montague to give Yale its first lead of the night, 28-26, with 3:47 on the clock.
Sears finished the half strong with five points to give the Bulldogs a five-point cushion, but Isaac Cohen's layup with eight seconds to make it 35-32 at the break.
Yale posted the first six of the second frame to take its largest lead of the game, 41-32, with 18:41 remaining. The Lions methodically chipped away at the deficit and pulled within 47-45 after a trifecta from the right wing with 12:21 to play.
Yale answered with a 9-3 outburst to bring the margin back up to eight over the next five-plus minutes before the Lions' caught fire from beyond the arc. Jeff Coby, Steve Frankoski and Lo all connected from downtown to trim the deficit to 58-57 with 3:41 remaining.
Neither team scored over the next several possessions until Javier Duren sank a pair of free throws with 1:06 left. After a pair of turnovers, Kyle Castlin corralled an offensive rebound for a put-back layup with 26 seconds to go.
Duren connected on two more free throws at the other end 10 seconds later and Lo's long try from 3-point range was blocked by sears with six seconds left to halt the comeback try.
Columbia went 10-of-18 (55.6 percent) and outrebounded the Bulldogs 33-28. However, Yale committed just three turnovers in the game and turned 14 Lions' miscues into 13 points.
Coby finished with nine points and seven boards. Castlin had 10 points on the night.
Columbia is back in action against Brown on Saturday, January 31 at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available for the game and can be purchased by clicking here. Fans can also catch the action live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
