NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball got back in the win column with an 84-81 victory over Penn in front of a packed house from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the team with a season-high 24 points. It was his eighth-career 20-point game. The junior's five three-pointers also marked a season-high. It was the second 20-point performance by a Lion this season (Zine Eddine Bedri vs. SUNY Delhi on Nov. 15).
Avery Brown tied his season-high for assists, dishing out six dimes to his teammates. Kenny Noland added 15 points while Zavian McLean chipped in 12.
Saturday's game served as the Coaches vs. Cancer Suits And Sneakers matchup. The nationwide event serves as basketball coaches across the country uniting for a common cause – ending cancer. Both the Columbia and Penn coaching staff wore suits and sneakers in an effort to support the cause.
Columbia's eight home wins this season are the most for the Lions since 2015-16. Saturday's win gave Columbia its first home victory over the Quakers in nearly seven years and snapped a three-game losing streak in the series.
The Lions (10-7, 1-3) staved off a 7-0 run in the final minutes by the Quakers (9-10, 1-3). With Columbia up by four, a missed stepback three-pointer from Penn's Sam Brown with 42 ticks left gave the Lions the ball back, but they failed to score. A missed lay-up by the Quakers caused them to foul Avery Brown with 22.3 left. He sank one of two free throws to bring the score to 83-78. With 11.4 seconds left, Penn sank two free throws to make it a one-possession game.
Rubio De La Rosa was sent back to the free throw line, making the first shot but missing the second. As Penn was about to attempt a game-tying shot, Blair Thompson stole the ball and the clock expired.
The Lions shot 55.8 percent (29-52) from the field and 48.1 percent (13-27) from three. The Quakers converted 43.5 percent (27-62) of their field goals. Penn dominated the boards, snagging 37 against Columbia's 24. The Lions held a 21-13 advantage in assists.
McLean scored the Lions' first points of the game, drilling a corner three off of a pass from Rubio De La Rosa. Rubio De La Rosa followed that up with a three-point shot of his own, as well as three free throws shortly after. By the 11:57 mark when the Lions were up 20-18, neither team had held a lead larger than two points.
The Lions broke that trend thanks to a pull-up mid-range jumper from McLean just over a minute later, giving the Lions a four-point lead. Despite a stepback three from Rubio De La Rosa, the Quakers fought back and eventually took a 41-34 lead with 4:13 to go in the half.
Columbia stormed back with a 7-0 run with a minute left and headed into the locker room down 43-41. An explosive first half saw 14 lead changes and seven ties. For the fourth straight game to start league play, the margin at the half was five points or less.
The second half started with both teams trading buckets. It was Josh Odunowo's crafty finish down low that tied the game up for the Lions at 45. Shortly after, McLean had the crowd on their feet after he converted an acrobatic layup through contact and converted the free throw to put Columbia back on top, 48-47. A huge four possessions were marked by three different Lions (Noah Robledo, Rubio De La Rosa, and Noland) knocking down three-pointers with a Brown lay-up in between, extending the Lions' lead to seven.
The Quakers came back, knotting the game up again at 61-61. It was a deep three from Robledo that regained the Lions' advantage. The teams would continue to trade big shots as another Rubio De La Rosa three would put Columbia back up five. Another big Lions sequence bookmarked by a Zine Eddine Bedri three put them up eleven, the largest lead for either team.
Columbia hits the road for a back-to-back Friday (Harvard at 7 p.m.) and Saturday (Dartmouth at 6 p.m.).
Follow The Lions
For the latest on Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on Twitter,
Instagram, and Facebook, or on the web at
GoColumbiaLions.com.
