20091125221527While many Columbians spent last week reuniting with their families back home, the basketball, wrestling, and swimming teams also met with others from around the country, with mixed results.

Coming off a win over Longwood, the Men’s Basketball team won again last Tuesday over Bucknell in a 73-59 victory that wasn’t secure until the last five minutes. With only 10 minutes left in the game, the Lions were trailing 51-43, but thanks to sophomore Noruwa Agho, making five seven three-pointers in total in the game, the Lions were able to get the win.

However, the team didn’t fare so well after a two-day Thanksgiving hiatus when they faced Syracuse, ranked 10th nationally. The Orange started the game with a 7-0 lead, but the Lions eventually diminished their lead to 24-20. Even so, at halftime, the Lions were trailing 36-27–a gap they were never fully able to close, even with star Agho scoring 22 points. The Lions eventually lost 85-60. Considering they were playing a nationally-ranked team, coach Jones said the Lions “gave great effort, but we didn’t execute as well as we wanted to in the second half.” They play Sacred Heart today.

The women’s basketball team had similar fates, with a tight 69-66 victory over Manhattan on Tuesday but came away with two losses in the University of Nevada Nugget Classic on Friday and Saturday. Senior and co-captain Sara Yee’s helped the Lions win in the last 35 seconds against Manhattan, but the team didn’t carry its momentum out West, with a 47-64 loss to Nevada and 69-72 loss to Iowa. The team plays Delaware at home on Wednesday, December 2nd.

In the Northeast Duals on Saturday, the wrestling team came away with a loss, a tie, and a victory. They lost 13-20 to Bloomsburg and, in a game that was close throughout, tied 18-18 with North Carolina. In the final matchup of the day, the Lions won against Sacred Heart 41-3. This time, the wrestlers travel to Nevada on Friday to compete in the Las Vegas Invitational.

The men’s swimming and diving team defeated Forham last Monday 155-145, giving the team a 3-2 winning record. They go to Pennsylvania for the three-day Bucknell Invitational this Friday.

Photo via www.gocolumbialions.com