NEW YORK - Playing its first game on Schiller Court, the long-awaiting Ivy League home opener took place in front of cardboard cutouts in lieu of fans at Levien Gym, as Columbia fell to Harvard (9-5, 1-1 Ivy League) in a hard-fought, 91-82 setback.
 
Cameron Shockley-Okeke was lights out shooting, including 5-of-5 behind the arc, scoring 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Eddie Turner III added 13 points and five assists, while Liam Murphy had 11 points. Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa had a big second half, and finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
 
Columbia (4-11, 1-2 Ivy League) led 18-16 midway through the first half, before trailing 44-41 at the break.
 
The Crimson scored the first ten points of the second half, and unfortunately the Lions could never overcome. Columbia would cut Harvard's lead eight on a few occasions, starting with 84-76, after a Rubio De La Rosa 3-pointer from the top of the arc with 2:36 remaining. Unfortunately, the closest Columbia would get is 89-82.
 
While Columbia played a home game for the first time in 33 days, fans were not permitted due to the recent rise in COVID cases being reported in New York City, New York State, and the University community. In turn, home court feels more like closed gym scrimmages than Ivy League games with raucous crowds.   
 
Now, after snapping a 23-game road losing streak at the Palestra with a win over Penn last weekend, the Lions go on the road to take on intrastate Cornell on Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 17. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
 
For the latest on the 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