NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball dominated Mount Saint Vincent, 120-52, in a wire-to-wire victory on Thursday night from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
The Lions (9-4) surpassed the previous record for most points in a game in program history (118 at Wagner on Jan. 17, 1977). Columbia has now won seven in a row at home for the first time since the 2015-16 season and has hit the nine-win mark before entering Ivy League play for the first time since that same year.
The 68-point win was Columbia's largest margin of victory in head coach
Jim Engles' tenure. Columbia's 62 rebounds and 30 assists in the game were also the most under Engles.
All 13 Lions to appear in Thursday's contest cracked the scoresheet. Zavian McLean led the way, dropping a game-high 19 points on an impressive 7-8 mark from the field, including 4-5 from downtown. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, becoming the first Columbia player to tally a double-double since Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa on February 4, 2022, at Princeton.
Arop Arop scored a career-best 13 points off the bench to go with five boards and two assists. Other Lions in double-figures included Blair Thompson with a season-high 17, Avery Brown with 14, and Josh Odunowo with 10.
Thompson opened the game on fire, scoring on the Lions' opening possession with a driving layup, but the Dolphins had a quick response on the next trip down with a layup from DJ Tucker.
Columbia's defense would lock in over the next four minutes, not allowing a single Mount Saint Vincent point, while the Lions went on a 12-0 run capped by a layup from Brown off an assist by Jaden Cooper.
The Dolphins would score the next five points, but the Lions responded with another 8-0 run highlighted by an and-one finish by Zine Eddine Bedri and another three-pointer from Thompson. Just a few minutes later, back-to-back threes from Noah Robledo and Brown would extend Columbia's lead to 33-13 and force the Dolphins to call a timeout with 6:30 to play in the half.
Four points from Odunowo with under a minute to go in the first half, including a buzzer-beating layup as time expired, gave the Lions a 53-29 lead as the teams headed into the break.
Columbia kept its foot on the gas in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first 12 points of the period while holding the Dolphins scoreless for the first four minutes of the half.
The Lions' lead exceeded 40 points with about 12 minutes still to play, as Kenny Noland and Nicolo Romanelli drilled back-to-back triples. A ferocious dunk by Arop Arop, followed by a pair of free throws on the next possession, extended Columbia's lead to 84-38.
Columbia's lead reached 50 points with about 9 minutes to play thanks to a three from Robbie Stankard, and that lead soon grew to 60 points after a converted and-one from Arop. Arop then gave the Lions their largest lead of the night, 71, with a slam.
The Lions open Ivy League play on Tuesday at Cornell. Tip from Newman Arena at Bartels Hall is set for 6 p.m.
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