NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Despite Columbia fighting back in the first half to make it a two-point game at the break, an impressive shooting performance from Yale in the final 20 minutes guided the Bulldogs to an 89-70 victory on Monday evening at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

In his second-straight start, Kenny Noland stepped up with a career-high 17 points on 5-10 shooting in 25 minutes of action. The sophomore guard filled in the starting five for a second consecutive game in place of an injured Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa. Zavian McLean contributed 16 points while Avery Brown had 11. 

After a quick offensive start for both teams just three minutes in that saw the score knotted at 7, Yale (11-6, 2-0) broke off a 5-0 run. Then a Noland finish plus the foul made it 14-10 six minutes into the game. The Bulldogs would open up a 25-13 lead following a 10-0 run, forcing Columbia (9-6, 0-2) to use its first timeout of the night.

The Lions dropped a bucket on eight straight possessions to bring Yale's lead within four with under four minutes to go in the first half. Columbia kept battling and took its first lead of the contest with 1:18 until the half when McLean poured in a reverse lay-up. The Bulldogs would return serve and take a 41-39 advantage into the locker room.

Noland came out of the gate on fire with 13 points on 5-6 shooting in the opening 20 minutes. Columbia was 5-11 from beyond the arc in the first frame and held Yale to just 3-9 from three-point range.

Coming out of the break, the Bulldogs made their first three shots from downtown to push the lead to 52-43 with 15:22 to go. Yale kept its foot on the gas, out-scoring the Lions 25-8 over the first eight minutes of the second half. Columbia was 2-11 from the floor in that span. 

The Lions suffered a field goal drought from the 17:28 mark until there were just under nine minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs would lead by as much as 25 in the second half.

Columbia clawed its way back, using a 10-0 spurt to cut Yale's big lead down to 15. Yale's 9-19 effort from three-point range in the second half was too much to overcome. The Bulldogs finished 51.5 percent overall from the floor compared to Columbia's 38.1 percent showing.

Columbia returns to New York City for its Ivy League home opener against Princeton on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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