NEW YORK — Despite a game-high 34-point performance by Columbia senior guard Mike Smith, Harvard built an 11-point lead midway through the second half and held off Columbia the rest of the way for a 77-69 men's basketball victory Friday evening at Levien Gymnasium.
 
The senior scored 26 of his 34 points in the second half and converted 13-of-25 field goal attempts. Smith scored Columbia's first 14 points of the second half and was the only Lion to score through the half's first 10 minutes. Smith registered his fifth 30-point scoring night of the season and 20^th 20-point game of the year. It was his second straight 30-point game as he scored 37 against Yale last Saturday.
 
Smith has now accumulated 612 on the season, becoming just the third player in program history to notch 600+ points in a year, joining Chet Forte (1956-57) and Jim McMillian (1967-68, 1969-70). He is 83 shy of setting the Lions' single-season mark.
 
Ike Nweke added 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Lions.
 
In the second half, Harvard hit 68 percent of its field goals and 84.6 percent of its free throw attempts. Despite being forced into 13 turnovers, Harvard outrebounded Columbia 40-30 and finished the game by converting 17 of its 21 free throw attempts. Harvard converted its last nine free throws to close out the game.
 
Rio Haskett led Harvard with 19 points on 8-10 shooting, while Chris Ledlum finished with 15 points, Justin Bassey finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Chris Lewis added 10 points.
 
Harvard gradually pulled away midway through the second half. The Crimson used a Haskett 3-pointer and a Ledlum jumper to take an eight-point lead (53-45) with 9:44 to play. Minutes later, Haskett hit a 3-pointer and then followed with a layup to give Harvard a commanding 11-point lead with 6:43 to play.
 
In the first two minutes of the second half, Harvard went up 37-29 on a 3-pointer by Rio Haskett. But Columbia came charging back with an 8-0 run to tie the game at 37-37 with 15:32 to play. Smith scored all eight of the points on a jumper, layup and four free throws. That was as close as the Lions game as Harvard's Djuricic answered with a 3-pointer and the Crimson led the rest of the way.
 
Columbia trimmed the lead down to seven points but that was as close as the Lions came as Harvard answered with four free throws to push its lead back to 11 points with 1:44 to play.
 
Harvard held a slim 32-29 halftime advantage. Both teams held the lead and neither team led by more than five points. Harvard put together a 6-0 run on a Rio Haskett jumper, Haskett layup and Justin Bassey layup to take the lead into halftime.
 
Columbia drops to 6-21 overall and 1-10 in Ivy League play. Harvard improves to 19-7 overall and 8-3 in the Ivy League.
 
The Lions will play their final home contest of the season Saturday, February 29, at 7 p.m. when Dartmouth comes to Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Tickets are available by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11. Fans can catch the game on SNY and ESPN+.

For the latest on the Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.