Columbia
BROWN
Hot-Shooting Lions Roll in Win Over Brown
1/31/2015 9:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.html) | BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEW YORK – The Columbia men's basketball team channeled former New York Yankees great Mariano Rivera, closing the game on a 23-2 run over the final 6:12 to pick up an 86-65 victory over Brown. The late surge turned a one-point ballgame into a blowout win for the Lions, who improved to 10-8 overall and 2-2 in Ivy League play.
Columbia converted on 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) from beyond the arc and shot 50.9 percent from the field in the contest.
Kyle Castlin posted career-highs with 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals.
In the first half, the Lions knocked down nine triples and strung together a 15-3 spurt to turn a seven-point deficit into a 37-31 advantage on Chris McComber's third trifecta of the stanza at the 1:44 mark.
Brown's (9-12, 0-4) Dockery Walker ended a field goal drought of 7:10 to put the score, 39-35, at halftime.
Out of the break, the Bears connected on five of their first six shots and evened the score, 50-50, after a JR Hobbie 3-pointers with 15:00 on the clock. Columbia responded by scoring eight of the next nine points to open up a seven-point lead on one of three triples from Steve Frankoski at the 12:18 mark.
A Tavon Blackmon layup trimmed the Brown deficit to 62-61 with 9:05 remaining. After a pair of empty possessions for both squads, Kendall Jackson's only basket of the game came at the perfect time. With the shot clock winding down, Jackson's floater went down to bring the lead back to three points.
Steven Spieth hit a pair from the charity stripe on the next trip down the floor to bring the Bears within one, yet again, but three makes from the foul line for the Lions started the long rally to close out the game.
Luke Petrasek added 14 points, going 5-of-8 from the floor, in his first start of the season. Maodo Lo chipped in 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists with no turnovers.
Cedric Kuakumensah and Blackmon each had 13 points for Brown, who had five players score in double-figures. Kuakumensah also pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and three blocks.
Columbia will kick-off alumni weekend when they host Princeton on Friday, February 6 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.
Game notes: The 21-point victory was Columbia largest Ivy League win since February 10, 2012 when the Lions defeated Brown 86-60… The Lions received 24 of their 34 rebounds from their backcourt… Lo moved into seventh on the all-time 3-point field goals made list (148)... Cory Osetkowski missed the game due to injury (day-to-day).
