PHILADELPHIA – A late rally turned a 12-point deficit into a two-point game with 49 seconds before Penn iced the game from the foul line to come away with a 77-72 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team Saturday night. Mike Smith scored 23 of his 27 points after halftime to lead the charge for the Lions (3-12, 0-2).

The Quakers' (12-5, 3-0) were led by AJ Brodeur's career-high 30 points to go with eight rebounds. Brodeur came into the night with seven made 3-pointers on the season before draining 6-of-12 tries from downtown against Columbia.

With the score 51-39 with 10:18 Smith and Quinton Adlesh, who finished with 15 points, teamed up to go on a 9-0 run to pull the Lions within three. After Adlesh capped the run with a transition layup, Columbia got an initial stop before Jarod Simmons tipped a rebound to reigning Ivy League Player of the Week, Ryan Betley, who canned a triple to stop the bleeding.

The Lions were still within striking distance, down just 58-54 on the strength of free throws by Smith until an 8-2 outburst by Penn, highlighted by Brodeur's final trifecta of the evening to make it a 10-point contest with 2:18 to play. However, Adlesh answered with a trey of his own, and after the Quakers converted on just 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, Smith was hacked after making a trey from the top of the key and drilled the foul shot to complete the four-point play, bringing Columbia within 67-63.

Penn, who started the game 0-for-5 from the free throw line, knocked down some clutch free throws to keep the Lions at bay, but Columbia's full-court press forced three turnovers down the stretch and Smith finished in the lane to make it 71-69 at the 49-second mark. Max Rothschild buried two more foul shots on the ensuing possession and a turnover by the Lions cemented the Quakers' win.

Betley added 20 points, going 4-of-7 from long range, and six rebounds.

The Lions and Quakers each pulled down 43 rebounds. Penn came into the night leading the Ivy League in rebounding margin (+1.8).

In the first half, Penn held a slim 12-10 cushion before six unanswered by Columbia, capped by a steal and layup by Gabe Stefanini before Brodeur responded with back-to-back buckets to knot the score with 8:37 on the clock. Stefanini 3 later put up a trey, with a hand in his face, from the right wing to give the Lions a 28-27 advantage before Brodeur stepped up with three consecutive 3-pointers to help Penn take a 33-28 lead into intermission.

The Lions will make their conference home debut next Saturday, January 20 against Cornell. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Tickets are still available. To purchase, visit gocolumbialions.com/tickets, call 888-LIONS-11.

Fans can also watch the contest on SNY and the Ivy League Network, now available on Apple TV, Roku and the ILN app for Android and Apple devices.

 POSTGAME TIP-INS
- All nine Columbia players that checked into the game scored.
- The Lions were just 6-of-25 (24 percent) from 3-point range and were held under 10 treys for the second consecutive night. Columbia had recorded 10 or more 3-pointers in 11 of 13 contests before the weekend.
- Mike Smith scored in double-figures for the 24th straight game against Division I opponents.
- Lukas Meisner posted a game-high with nine rebounds.