NEW YORK - Josh Odunowo had 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa also had 11 points and two assists, but the Columbia men's basketball team fell to Lafayette 73-50 on Monday night.

After trailing by eight early, the Lions (2-5) tied it at 14-14 midway through the first half, when Cameron Shockley-Okeke made a layup assisted by Patrick Harding. However, Lafayette (2-4) went on an 18-0 run over a span of 7:18 to take a 42-22 at the half. 

"We have to execute. You (have to) execute at a high level when we're playing major college basketball," head coach Jim Engles said. "There are no excuses. It's a learning experience."

The Leopards (2-4) were coming off a strong win at Rutgers before Thanksgiving last Monday.

The Lions came out strong in the second half, and made it 43-31 when Noah Robledo hit a 3-pointer on the right wing off a feed from Rubio De La Rosa at the 14:25 mark. Unfortunately, it was the closest Columbia would get. 

Harding added seven points and a season-high 12 rebounds for the Lions. Robledo was 2-of-4 from 3-point range.

This was the first of three games this week for Columbia. The Lions will hit the road to face UMBC Wednesday, December 1 at 7 p.m. on AmericaEast.TV before closing the slate out against Maine at Schiller Court in Levien Gymnasium Saturday.

"We just played pretty well against the ACC team on the road," Engles said, referring to the close loss at Boston College. "We're going to come to practice tomorrow and play a good UMBC team on the road."

For the players, getting a game so quickly is a good thing.

"It's cool that we play two more games this week so you get that taste out of your mouth," Harding said. "We don't have to wait four or five days to play. We play UMBC on Wednesday and we'll be ready to go."

Tickets for the Lions' remaining home games are available by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11. For venue policies, click here.

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

Matt Sugam has been covering sports in the NYC Metropolitan area for over a decade. He has spent the last eight years covering college and professional sports as a stringer for the Associated Press, while also contributing to The New York Times, USA Today Network, NJ.com, and SNY.tv. He will be covering Lions Athletics for gocolumbialions.com while pursuing an M.S. in Strategic Communication at Columbia's School of Professional Studies. Follow him on Twitter @MattSugam