NEW YORK- Columbia men's basketball earned a hard-fought 71-65 victory over Dartmouth on Saturday night inside Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
Columbia was trailing in the second half for just over 11 minutes straight when
Zavian McLean buried a three-pointer in transition off an
Avery Brown steal to give the Lions a 61-59 lead with 4:51 to play. Dartmouth answered quickly to tie it back up but then the Lions held on the rest of the way to pull out its first win since the Ivy League opener against Yale on New Year's Eve.
"I'm really happy for the guys," head coach
Jim Engles said. "We toughed it out. We made some quality stops and some huge plays down the stretch. It was good for them to get some positive results."
Columbia converted its final seven free throws down the stretch to help secure the win. The Lions shot 14-16 from the charity stripe on Saturday night.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa was a perfect 5-5 from the line and Brown went 4-4 in the final 30 seconds of the game.
Columbia took a 40-35 lead into the break, but Dartmouth opened the second half on a 13-4 run less than five minutes into the final frame. The Big Green expanded its lead to as much as eight points before the Lions started to chip away.
De La Rosa led the Lions once again with 19 points and collected a team-high eight rebounds. De La Rosa stuffed the stat sheet as he logged a game-high 38 minutes. He added a team-high three assists, a steal, and a block.
De La Rosa has scored in double-digits in 10 out of the team's 12 Ivy League games this season.
"I just go with the flow and the team," De La Rosa said. "I stick with the basics and it's just natural."
McLean finished with 11 points and first-year guard
Kenny Noland rounded out Columbia's double-figure scorers with 10 points.
"We were limiting them to one shot and securing the rebounds," said McLean. "We had a lot of good possessions that we put together."
Columbia's defense was suffocating around the ball all night long. The Lions forced Dartmouth to just 3-of-21 from three-point range, including 0-of-9 from downtown in the first half. The Big Green didn't score any fast break points. Columbia outrebounded Dartmouth 43-36.
The Lions led a majority of the first 20 minutes. Columbia held as much as a 10-point advantage in the opening half when it took a 32-22 lead on a
Noah Robledo turnaround jump shot with 6:24 left before the break.
Columbia (7-20, 2-10) has snapped a 10-game losing streak with the win. Dartmouth falls to (9-17, 5-7).
"These guys have not quit," Engles said. "They have continued to focus on what they need to get better at. We deserve this. These guys are continuing to improve."
Dame Adelekun led Dartmouth with 19 points. Dusan Neskovic and Brandon Mitchell-Day also contributed double-figures for the Big Green.
Columbia is back in action next Saturday for the final home game of the season when Brown visits Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium for a 2 p.m. tipoff on ESPN+. Tickets can be purchased
here.
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