NEW YORK — Columbia men's basketball blew past Stony Brook on Saturday night in a wire-to-wire win, 82-63, inside Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium.
Senior Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa continued his offensive tear to start the season, dropping a career-high 37 points and moving to 11th place on Columbia's all-time scoring list. Rubio De La Rosa set a Levien Gym record with nine three-pointers made. He also tied the Levien Gym record for points scored by a Lion, matching Mike Smith, Buck Jenkins, and C.J. Thompkins' 37-point performances.
"A lot of credit to my teammates," Rubio De La Rosa said on ESPN+ postgame. "They were finding me when I was open and I was able to knock them down."
Columbia moved to 7-0 for the first time since 1969. The victory against Stony Brook (2-4) marks the Lions' fourth straight home win to start a season for the first time since 2010.
"We're moving the ball, guys are being selfless and sharing the ball," head coach Jim Engles said. "When we're moving like that we play well. It's a nice way for the guys to play and it makes it a challenge for teams to play against us."
Rubio De La Rosa's historic performance saw him shoot 14-of-18 (.778) from the field and 9-of-13 (.692) from three-point range. Both were career highs.
Kenny Noland was the other Lion in double figures, scoring 17 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. The Lions benefited from 26 assists on the night. Blair Thompson pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.
The Lions opened Saturday's matchup on a 9-0 run and Columbia led 17-3 with 13:18 left in the first half. Columbia's defense kept them in control and forced a 9-of-27 (.333) shooting performance from the Seawolves before heading to the locker room. Rubio De La Rosa leveraged a hot shooting start and scored 24 of Columbia's 38 first-half points.
The Lions led by as much as 33 points with 7:54 to go when Columbia held a 74-41 advantage. Columbia's efficiency jumped in the final 20 minutes when they shot 63.0 percent from the field (17-27).
The Lions will return to action on Monday when they host New Hampshire (2-6) at 7 p.m. The game can be watched live on ESPN+.
Postgame Notes:
- Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa posted his 12th straight double-figures scoring game dating back to last season and his 16th career 20-point game on Saturday. He has scored at least 20 points in six of seven games this season.
- Rubio De La Rosa (1,242 career points) now sits in 11th place on Columbia's all-time scoring list.
- Rubio De La Rosa is the first Lion to score 37 points in a game since Mike Smith did so on Feb. 22, 2020 vs. Yale.
- Rubio De La Rosa and Kenny Noland are the first Lions duo to record double-figures scoring in each of the first seven games of a season since 2015-16. Grant Mullins and Alex Rosenberg each dropped 10 or more points in the first seven contests of that campaign.
- Columbia has led at the half in six of seven games this season.
- Columbia led for over 36 minutes in Saturday's win for the fifth straight game.
Follow The Lions
For the latest on Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on X,
Instagram or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.
