NEW YORK – Columbia men's basketball erased an 18-point second half deficit with a flurry of 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough to defeat Ivy League front runner Yale as the Bulldogs came away with a 70-64 road win Friday evening at Levien Gymnasium.
 
Yale, which converted 55.1 percent (27-49) of its shots, was led by Miye Oni, who scored 20 points, Alex Copeland, who finished with 19 points and Trey Phills, who added 15 points. The trio combined to score 54 of the Bulldogs' 70 points.
 
Quinton Adlesh scored a game-high 23 points and Gabe Stefanini added 14. After going 1-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Lions made 6-of-16 (37.5 percent) in the second to spark their rally.
 
"I tried to stay patient (after a slow shooting start)," Adlesh said. "I knew we were going to have to hit some shots to get back into it. So, was just trying to stay aggressive. We've come from behind quite a bit and the next step is to finish these comebacks. We're learning how to do that every week. It's tough, but we're working hard."
 
Adlesh scored 11 straight points, including three consecutive treys to pull Columbia within 61-60 with 4:13 to play. Two Stefanini free throws evened the score at 62-62 with 2:52 to play.
 
But Yale would go on to score eight of the game's final 10 points and escape with the win. Copeland's jumper with 2:41 to play gave put the Bulldogs on top for good. After a Columbia shot clock violation, Oni scored on a drive to the basket with 1:52 remaining. Stefanini answered with two more foul shots, cutting the deficit back to two with 1:34 on the clock.
 
Columbia had a chance to tie after Oni missed a jumper, but a Stefanini layup was blocked with 35 seconds to go. Yale rebounded and went up 68-64 when Copeland scored from close-range. Phills put the game out of reach with two free throws with seven seconds to go.
 
Yale (16-4, 6-1 Ivy League) took control of the game with a 15-3 run before halftime, taking advantage after Patrick Tapé went to the bench with two fouls with 4:18 before the break. Tapé scored nine early points and had two blocks before being forced to sit.
 
A 3-pointer by Phills gave the Bulldogs a 33-22 lead with 40 seconds left in the first half. Peter Barba hit the first of his three triples to end the drought, but Yale held a 35-25 lead going into halftime. The Bulldogs also capitalized on 55-percent first half shooting.
 
The teams traded leads through the majority of the first half before Yale's run.
 
In the second half, Yale pushed its lead to as many as 18 points (49-31) following a 9-0 run fueled by an Oni 3-pointer, an Oni dunk, Copeland dunk and two Atkinson free throws.
 
Columbia rounds out the weekend with a matchup against Brown on Saturday, February 16, presented by New York Presbyterian Hospital. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased by clicking here or calling 888-LIONS-11. The contest will be shown live on ESPN+ and on tape delay on SNY.