Columbia
55
54
Harvard
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Senior Alex Rosenberg's fadeaway jumper as time expired gave the Columbia men's basketball team a 55-54 win at Harvard Saturday night. The Lions (15-6, 4-0) trailed by as many as 20 points, but rallied after halftime to pick up their first win in Lavietes Pavilion since 2008.
Down by one with 1:18 left, Columbia had two opportunities to take the lead, but both shots were off the mark. However, the Crimson (9-11, 1-3) missed two front-ends of 1-and-1s from the foul line to keep the Lions in the game.
Jeff Coby grabbed the rebound off the free throw miss and Maodo Lo fed the ball to Rosenberg at midcourt. Rosenberg drove left and stepped back from the foul line extended to send Columbia home victorious.
Rosenberg finished with 14 points. Lo added 11 points, five rebounds and four steals.
The Crimson started the game on a 16-3 run and went ahead by 20 with 6:14 left in the first half. Lo knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to draw Columbia within 30-17 with 1:00 remaining and trailed by 16 at the break.
The Lions gave Harvard a dose of its own medicine, starting the second frame on a 9-0 spurt to make it 33-27 at the 15:59 mark. The Crimson restored the 10-point cushion on back-to-back buckets by Agunwa Okolie moments later, but Columbia had the answer once again.
Rosenberg drove to the lane to cap eight unanswered for the Lions to give them their first lead of the night, 43-42, at the 7:25 mark.
From there, it was a back-and-forth battle that saw four tie scores and five lead changes down the stretch.
Harvard held a 41-29 edge on the glass, but committed 15 turnovers which led to 13 points for Columbia. The Lions defense was stifling in the second half, holding the Crimson to just 36.4 percent.
The Lions and Yale square off next Friday, Feb. 5 in New Haven, Connecticut, on FOX Sports 1 and the FOX Sports Go app. The Ivy League Digital Network will also have a free live audio stream available.
