PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Josh Odunowo had a career-best 17 points and Columbia men's basketball came out victorious at Brown on Saturday afternoon with an 83-69 win at Pizzitola Sports Center.

The Lions (12-8, 3-4) snapped a six-game losing streak against the Bears and the victory gives Columbia two-straight Ivy League wins for the first time since March 2019. It's also the first time the Lions have won back-to-back road games by double-digit margins since January 2016. Brown falls to 6-16 (2-5). Columbia led the entire second half on Saturday.

"A win on the road in the Ivy League is extremely challenging so I'm really happy for the guys," head coach Jim Engles said postgame on ESPN+. "We just tried to stay focused (on defense) and stay as solid as possible and I'm glad the guys were able to follow the game plan."

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa exploded in the second half, dropping all his 14 points in the final 20 minutes. Noah Robledo tied his season-high mark with 15 points while Avery Brown (11 points) and Zine Eddine Bedri (10 points) also added double-figures scoring. Columbia has had five players finish in double-figures scoring four times this season.

 

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"All credit to my teammates, they found me," Odunowo said. "I was getting open and they found me. I'm really appreciative of them."

After scoring the opening bucket, the Lions had to fight back from an early 8-2 deficit and took a 10-9 lead into the first media timeout. Columbia's first 10 points all came in the paint. The first eight minutes of the game saw four lead changes as the Lions and Browns were knotted up at 15-15 at the under-12 timeout.

Odunowo poured in five-straight points to give Columbia a 23-17 lead and forced the Bears to use their first timeout. He'd wind up scoring 11-straight on 6-6 shooting, including two dunks, to open up a 10-point lead for Columbia. 

Brown countered with a 13-0 run to give the Bears a 32-29 lead later in the half. A lay-in from Zavian McLean ended the spurt and Brown had a one-point advantage with 3:18 until the break. Thanks to two lay-ups by Bedri in the final 1:20, Columbia took a 40-34 lead into the locker room on 51.5 percent shooting. The Lions had 30 points in the paint in the opening frame.

Columbia came out of the break with an evenly-balanced effort on offense, creating another 10-point lead less than five minutes into the second half. The Bears had just one basket in that timeframe. The Lions then opened up another big lead when Rubio De La Rosa drilled his second shot from behind the arc to give Columbia a 58-45 lead with 9:28 remaining.

The run continued for Columbia, as the margin grew to a game-high 18 points with seven minutes to go. Brown would not go away easily following a Kino Lilly Jr. three-pointer to trim Columbia's lead to nine with just under five minutes left. He finished with a game-best 24 points.

Rubio De La Rosa's hot second half continued when he hit another triple plus the foul to give him double-figures on the day as the Lions led 69-56 at the final media timeout of the day.

Columbia returns home to tip-off a four-game homestand next weekend. The Lions host Dartmouth on Friday at 7 p.m. before welcoming Harvard on Saturday at 6 p.m.

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