PHILADELPHIA- Columbia men's basketball outscored Penn in the second half but came up short, falling 74-65 at The Palestra on Friday night.
After scoring just two points in the first half,
Zavian McLean came alive in the final 20 minutes to drop 17. His season-high 19 points led the team on 9-16 shooting.
Avery Brown also had an impressive night offensively, finishing with 18 points. Brown made all of his threes in the first half and finished with one point shy of tying his career-high. The guard logged over 39 minutes before fouling out in the final stages of the game.
After being down 38-27 at the midway point, Columbia (6-17, 1-7) came out in the second half with a sense of urgency. The Lions battled to the end, going on a 7-0 run that was capped by a
Kenny Noland three-pointer with 4:01 to go.
Columbia got it to within a five-point margin on a
Zine Eddine Bedri three-pointer with just over two minutes to play.
Ivy League leading-scorer Jordan Dingle posted a game-high 25 points for Penn (12-11, 4-4). The Quakers visited the free throw line often Friday night, going 22-31 compared to Columbia's 13-16. Penn shot 44.4% from the field while Columbia went 22-61 (36.1%).
All but one Lion to appear in Friday's game cracked the score sheet.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa's five-game streak of double-figures scoring was snapped, but the sophomore tallied five assists in the loss.
Penn has now taken both games in the season series. Columbia looks to snap a seven-game road trip as the road trip continues Saturday night at Princeton. Tip-off from Jadwin Gymnasium is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN+ and SNY.
