– Columbia University Athletics

Looking better each weekend, the Columbia men’s basketball team won its third game in a row (and sixth in seven), holding off Brown 70-57. Junior guard Pat Foley scored a career-high 21 points, and freshman guard Noruwa Agho added 17 more, including 14 in the second half, to lead the team to an important victory at the start of a four-game, two-weekend road trip.

Even more impressively, the Lions remain in strong contention for the Ivy League title. Tonight’s win, combined with Cornell’s loss at Yale, puts the Lions (6-3) only one game behind Cornell (7-2)  in the standings, with five games left in the season. Although Cornell holds the tiebreaker by virtue of having beaten Columbia twice to start the year, the Big Red have lost two of their last three away games, and could easily stumble down the stretch.  

For the Lions, tomorrow night’s game at Yale (5-4) will be critical; last time, at home, Columbia won 53-42 behind strong 2nd half defense and a double-double from forward Jason Miller. You can watch (yes, watch!) the action on the YES network tomorrow night at 7.

– JCD