Box Score NEW HAVEN, Conn.- Columbia men's basketball was defeated by Yale, 99-68, at John J. Lee Amphitheater on Saturday night.
 
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the Lions with 19 points. The sophomore guard has scored in double-digits in eight out of the team's 10 Ivy League games this season. Avery Brown (14 points) and Blair Thompson (12 points) were the other Lions to chip in double-figures scoring in the loss.
 
Yale's Matt Knowling scored 14 of the team's first 18 points less than eight minutes into the game. The forward poured in 19 first half points and started 8-of-8 from the field in the first half. Knowling finished with a game-high 22 points.
 
Yale also received double-figures scoring from EJ Jarvis and John Poulakidas. The Bulldogs shot 56.7 percent from the floor while Columbia shot 36.8 percent.
 
Yale went on a 12-0 run in a three-minute span in the opening half. The Lions quickly stormed back and went on its own 11-2 run to tie the game with 9:07 left in the first half. Brown capped it with a fast-break layup off a steal.
 
The Bulldogs then pulled back in front with another large run. This time, Yale went on a 13-0 spurt before Liam Murphy hit a three-pointer to break the run with three minutes before the break. The half would then end with yet another Lions run.
 
After being down by 13, the Lions brought it to 39-36 when De La Rosa was fouled beyond the arc with under a minute until the break. He converted on all three free throws. Yale took a 41-36 lead into the locker room.
 
Yale came out strong in the second half after a back-and forth first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs opened up a double-digit lead with 15:44 remaining. Isaiah Kelly completed a three-point play to give Yale a 56-44 advantage.
 
The Bulldogs began to pull away when Yale expanded its lead to 66-49 with 11:55 to play. The sequence included an 8-1 run for the home team that finished with a slam dunk from Kelly.
 
Columbia was outscored 58-32 in the second half. The Bulldogs opened up a 30-point lead with 2:17 remaining. Yale (17-6, 7-3) has won six games in a row and moved into a tie with Princeton for first place in the Ivy League standings. Columbia (6-19, 1-9) has dropped nine-straight games.
 
The Lions return home next weekend for the regular season's final back-to-back with Harvard on Friday and Dartmouth on Saturday. Both games are set to tip at 7 p.m. from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Tickets for each game can be purchased here.