NEW YORK - Ike Nweke returned from an injured shoulder before shouldering the responsibility for Columbia's 93-74 loss to Brown on Saturday afternoon.
 
The senior captain had 16 points and nine rebounds after missing the game last Saturday at Harvard, but back-to-back turnovers proved to be the unraveling for a young Lions team.
 
Leading 16-13 on an Eddie Turner III 10 points) follow up layup at the 12:36 mark, Columbia (4-11, 1-2) trailed Brown (9-11, 1-4) 52-31 at the half. The Lions were plagued by turnovers, giving up 14 in the first stanza.
 
"I personally feel like I kind of need to take accountability for that," Nweke said after the game. "After turning the ball over twice in a row (after) the second media timeout in the first half, things started to tumble and started to add up. And our turnovers led to fast break points. They're a good transition team. Only getting two practices in, not being able to practice against double teams - that kind of affected me as well." 
Columbia fought back, cutting Brown's lead to 79-63 on a Cameron Shockley-Okeke (11 points) 3-pointer with 4:28 remaining.
 
Unfortunately, it was the closest the Lions would get.
 
"We're just turning the ball over too much. We just have to continue to work on it," head coach Jim Engles said. "It's killing our defense. It's killing our flow."
 
The Lions welcomed back a small number of fans to Schiller Court at Levien Gym. Due to University COVID-19 safety measures, spectators will be limited to a pass list.
 
"It's just different," Engles said. "We're playing, so I think that's the main focal point. We didn't play last year. It really makes it a different environment and almost makes it like [closed door] scrimmages. And I don't know if people would understand that. But that's what it is. We'd love to have more fans here, but we've got to make our own energy."
 
The Lions are back in action for a rare Tuesday night Ivy League game on January 25 when they travel to New Haven to take on Yale. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.  It's part of a finicky schedule, thanks to COVID postponements. Originally scheduled for January 2, the game was rescheduled after a COVID breakout within the Yale program.
 
For the latest on the Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
 
Matt Sugam '23 SPS  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.