Imagine the fight song playing in your head.

As all TV show addicts know, every new episode starts with a brief montage of important clips from the rest of the season, serving as a friendly reminder of all the action that’s taken place so far. For those of you who didn’t keep up CU sports over the break, this kind of recap might be helpful. Consider this the scenes-from-last-week version of the happenings at Columbia Athletics since exams ended.

Men’s Basketball (12-7, 1-2 Ivy League):

Recap: The Lions rode the momentum of a record-setting start to the season into winter break. In December, the team went 6-1, the best December performance for the Men’s Basketball team since 1969. After falling to Marist in the final game of 2011, the Lions went on to win four straight in the new year, beating Lafayette, Fairleigh Dickinson, Colgate, and Elon. Last weekend, the Men’s Basketball team opened Ivy League play, hosting Penn and Princeton on consecutive nights. Both contests were close and hard-fought games, but the Lions were edged out in both, losing to Penn, 64-66, and then to Princeton, 58-62. With a 4-3 record over break, the Lions welcomed back returning students as they took on Cornell last night in Levien Gymnasium. In addition to team success, a number of notable Lions had standout performances over the break. Against Farleigh Dickinson, sophomore guard Meiko Lyles tallied a career-high 25 points, leading the Lions to their second straight win. And over the Ivy League opening weekend, junior guard Brian Barbour notched 25 points in two consecutive games, besting his career-high of 21 points that he set in December.

Latest Result: The Lions down Cornell 61-56 in first Ivy League win.

Overview: Both teams started slow in the Lions’ third Ivy League contest on Saturday, but Columbia managed to take an early lead, heading into the half up 27-22. Though the Lions led throughout, the game remained close in the second half. Columbia opened up their biggest lead of the game with just under seven minutes remaining when junior center Mark Cisco drained a pair of free throws to extend the lead to ten. Indeed, Columbia’s cool from behind the line helped finish off Cornel in the final minutes of the game, as Barbour and Cisco both hit a pair of free throws with time winding down. In the 61-56 victory, Cisco posted his second straight double-double and broke the Levien Gymnasium rebound record with 20 boards.

At 1-2 in the Ivy League, the Lions are tied for fifth in conference standings. Their overall record of 12-7, however, is only outmatched by league-leading teams Harvard and Yale.

Upcoming Contest: The Lions take on Cornell again in Ithaca, NY this weekend and look for their second straight Ivy League victory.

Women’s Basketball (2-14, 0-2 Ivy League):

Recap: The Women’s Basketball team continued to struggle over break, winning just one of their five contests. On December 30th, the Lions had an exciting come-from-behind victory over Bryant, hitting five of six free throws in the final 40 seconds to give them a three point edge in the win, 77-74. The team was unable to gain traction after the win, however, and their troubles continued in their opening pair of Ivy League games. The Lions were stunned by league-leading Princeton Tigers last weekend, falling 35-94.

Latest Result: The Lions drop fourth straight against Cornell 44-54.

Overview: The Lions started the game with a 5-0 run against Cornell on Saturday in their second Ivy League contest of the season. The Big Red tied the game at 10-10 and the teams traded leads in the first half, but Cornell led Columbia 24-19 at halftime. The Big Red came out strong in the second half, widening their lead to double-digits in the opening minutes. The Lions were unable to make up the deficit in the second half, trailing 44-54 at the final buzzer. Junior Tyler Simpson led the Lions with 13 points in the game.

Upcoming Contest: The Lions look for their first Ivy League win on the road at Penn next weekend.

Wrestling (3-2):

Recap: The Wrestling team had an especially busy winter break, traveling to a pair of all-day contests. On December 29th, the squad competed at the Mat Town Invitational in Lock Haven, PA, placing 5th overall out of 11 teams. Junior Jake O’Hara placed second in 157-pound division and six other Lions placed in the invitational. At the Pitt Duals on January 7th, the Lions took on 10th ranked Pitt, EMU, Davidson, and VMI. The Wrestling team came out of the weekend 3-1, falling only to the host, Pitt. Junior Steve Santos had a standout performance at the Duals, going 4-0 on the weekend including two pins and one technical fall.

Latest Result: The Lions fall to Army in home opener, 15-19.

Overview: In University Gymnasium last Saturday, Elijah Sullivan, Steve Santos, Stephen West, and Kevin Lester all tallied wins for the Lions. Army built an early lead in the match with wins in the 125 pounds and 135 pounds divisions, and despite strong performances from the Lions – including a 49 second pin by Lester – Columbia was unable to make up the difference.

Upcoming Contest: The Lions are competing at the New York State Tournament this weekend in Ithaca, NY and place 3rd on Day 1.

Swimming & Diving:

Recap: The Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving teams gained a tan and some useful hours in the pool over break as both teams traveled to Puerto Rico for a training trip. Sources close to the teams say the trip was “fun as shit,” and their hard work over break seems to have payed off. The Men’s team started the new year with a 129.5-111.5 victory over Bucknell last weekend and both teams notched W’s in Ivy League contests against Cornell on Saturday.

Latest Result: The Men’s and Women’s teams take down Cornell in decisive fashion, winning 202.5-92.5 and 194.5-99.5, respectively.

Overview: In Uris Pool on Saturday, the Women’s Swimming & Diving team won twelve events, and took the top three places in the 100 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 100 free, and 200 back. The Lady Lions also took the top spot in both diving events on the day. The Men’s team had similar success on Saturday, winning an overwhelming 14 of 16 events on the day. The Lions swept the 1000 free, 200 free, and 100 fly events against Cornell in their second Ivy League victory.

With the win, the Women’s team improves to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the Ivy League while the Men’s team moves to 4-2 overall and 2-2 in conference play.

Upcoming Contest: Both teams hit the road to take on Brown next weekend.

Squash:

Recap: After a long break in action for both the Men’s and Women’s Squash teams, the Lions returned in the new year to continue their second season as a varsity sport. On January 10th, the Men’s team (3-4, 1-2 Ivy League) took on 15th ranked Navy, losing 7-2. In last weekend’s triple-header against Brown, Bowdoin and Yale, the Men’s team came out of the weekend 2-1, besting Bowdoin 7-2 and Brown 6-3 in their first Ivy League win of the season. The Women’s Team (3-4, 0-3 Ivy League) had similarly mixed results over the weekend, crushing Bowdoin 9-0 only to fall to 2nd ranked Yale 0-9.

Upcoming Contest: Both teams are at the Pioneer Valley Invitational this weekend in Amherst, Mass.

OUR TURF via Wikimedia Commons