NEW YORK – Columbia men's basketball battled all night, but a late run by Boston College lifted the Eagles to an 82-73 win at Conte Forum Wednesday. The Lions (3-7) were led by 12 points from Patrick Tapé and Randy Brumant's 16 points and nine boards.
 
Boston College used a strong shooting start to build a 21-12 advantage with 9:13 left in the first half. Jairus Hamilton gave the Eagles an 11-point advantage after a transition dunk and Ty Bowman knocked down a long trey at the top of the key to give BC its largest lead of the half, 37-25, with 3:15 to go in the period.
 
The Lions responded with three consecutive 3-pointers to get back into the game and Gabe Stefanini connected from the left wing to make it a two-possession game, 38-32, at the intermission.
 
Columbia notched the first six points of the second half to go in front, 40-38, when Brumant hit a turnaround jumper from the post with 16:54 to go, forcing an Eagles timeout. The teams traded buckets over the next three possessions until BC strung together back-to-back buckets and went back in front, 44-42 on a layup from Wynston Tabs at the 15:35 mark.
 
Tabbs struck again with 9:23 to go, converting on a trey from the corner to push the margin to 59-50 with under 10 minutes to play. The Lions looked inside to get back into the contest and Tapé and Ike Nweke registered a pair of old fashioned 3-point plays to bring Columbia within four with 8:06 on the clock.
 
However, Boston College was able to maintain the lead with timely offensive rebounds the entire way, and Nik Popovic's put-back with 5:36 to go restored the Eagles' nine-point cushion. Columbia made one final push, using a Tapé finish to pull within 74-70 with 1:27 remaining, but Boston College put the game away when Bowman received a long pass over the Lions' full-court press for a layup and got three final stops to come away victorious.
 
Stefanini dished out a career-high 11 assists, the highest total for a Columbia player since Brian Babour had 12 against Elon on Dec. 29, 2012. He is the first Lion to reach double-figures in the stat since Isaac Cohen posted 10 against Colgate on Dec. 28, 2014. Columbia assisted on 21 of 28 field goals on the night and committed just six turnovers.
 
Bowman led all scorers with 24 points and added 10 rebounds. Popovic also had a double-double with 22 points and 14 boards. For the game, the Eagles shot 50.9 percent and held a 44-32 edge on the glass.
 
The Lions wlll resume play after final exams Saturday, December 22, at Rutgers for a 1 p.m. contest. Fans can catch all the action on BTN Plus.
 
Tickets for upcoming home games at Levien Gymnasium can be purchased by clicking here or calling 888-LIONS-11.