NEW YORK — In a battle of teams fighting for an Ivy League Tournament berth, Harvard pulled away late for an 80-75 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team Saturday night in front of an energetic crowd of 2,257 from Schiller Court at Levien Gymnasium. Jaden Cooper scored a career-high 26 points off the bench in the defeat.

Cooper was 9-11 from the floor and 5-7 from beyond the arc. The junior from Goldsboro, North Carolina, also added five boards in 26 minutes of action. 

"It was a good game," Cooper said. "The guys fought hard. A couple rebounds here, a couple turnovers there. There were a few possessions that changed the game."

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa finished with 10 points, putting him just seven shy of reaching 1,000 for his career.

The game was tight throughout, but the Lions (13-9, 4-5) finally gained some separation midway through the second half. Noah Robledo used a hoop and harm to put Columbia up 53-44 at the 12:23 mark. Harvard (13-9, 4-5) clawed its way back to within one before a pair of steals led to a pair of transition layups for Cooper, including another and-one to make it 60-51 with 9:31 to play.

"Jaden has been unbelievable, he is improving all the time," head coach Jim Engles said. "He's done a great job and it's just unfortunate that with his effort tonight we couldn't come out with a victory."

The Crimson strung together another 8-0 rally to get back within striking distance and tied the game 63-63 off a layup from Chandler Pigge at the 5:57 mark. Just over a minute later, Harvard took the lead for good off a pair of free throws and held off a last-ditch comeback try by the Lions to earn the season sweep.

"It's a tough loss," Engles said.  "I thought we played well for large segments of the game and then we just let it slip there. It's a tough loss for us to digest right now because we've been playing very well."

Cooper's hot first half on 4-of-4 shooting (3-3 from three-point range) gave him a career-best 13 points at the break. Kenny Noland was also 3-3 from downtown and headed into the half with nine points.

Columbia had a nice boost off the bench in the first half, converting 24 bench points. The Lions held on to a slim 38-37 lead at halftime. Columbia was 7-14 from beyond the arc in the half. The largest lead for either team in the opening half was Columbia (five points) at the 5:07 mark.

Out of the gates in the second half, Columbia went on a 7-0 run in a two-minute span to lead 45-40 at the under-16 timeout. The spurt included a great defensive sequence where the Lions defended in transition, forced a turnover, and fed Rubio De La Rosa for an and-one finish. A few minutes later, he'd convert on another and-one to give the Lions an eight-point lead

After shooting 7-of-14 from downtown in the first half, Columbia was just 2-of-13 in the second. The Lions dished out 20 assists on 27 made field goals but turned the ball over nine times in the second half.

The Lions and Crimson are even for the fourth spot in the Ivy League standings. However, Harvard now holds the tiebreaker after picking up the season sweep.

Columbia continues its four-game homestand next weekend with another back-to-back against Brown on Friday at 7 p.m. and Yale on Saturday at 6 p.m. Both games will air on SNY.

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