NEW YORK – The Columbia men's basketball team used a terrific defensive effort and 21 points from Maodo Lo to top Penn, 63-53, in front of a near-capacity crowd in Levien Gymnasium. The Lions improved to 17-7 overall and 6-1 in Ivy League play, matching the best conference start for the program since 1977.

Columbia limited the Quakers (8-12, 2-4) to 36.2 percent shooting and forced 15 turnovers, 11 coming off of steals.

Grant Mullins added 11 points and six steals, which was a career-best. Alex Rosenberg chipped in 10 points and eight boards. Isaac Cohen matched his classmate with eight rebounds.

Both teams were about to establish a lot of offense early on during a first half that featured seven tie scores. The Lions took the lead for good on a free throw from Mullins with 6:19 remaining in the period. Lo gave Columbia a 28-24 advantage at the break with a step-back triple with 48 seconds on the clock.

The Lions stormed out of the gates after the intermission, scoring the first eight points of the stanza to extend the margin to 35-24 with 17:45 remaining. Penn responded with an 11-2 run and closed within 41-40 after a triple from Jackson Donahue at the 11:30 mark.

Jeff Coby sparked an 11-0 outburst, scoring seven of his nine points during that stretch, to restore a 12-point lead with 8:04 to go. Columbia led by as many as 16 points as they went on for the win.

The Lions are back at it tomorrow night for a pivotal matchup with Princeton, who is 15-5 overall and 5-1 in Ivy League play. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. in Levien Gymnasium.

There are a limited number of tickets available. Don't miss out on the action, get your tickets by clicking here. Fans can also catch the action live on the Ivy League Digital Network and ESPN3.