He shoots…and scores!

The Lions came away with a close 1-point win over Princeton on Friday night. The win was Columbia’s first win at Princeton in 20 years, the last time being on Feb. 13th, 1993. The Lions found themselves down by as much as 11 points in the first half, but the scrappy team found its way back within 2 by the end of the second half. Isaac Cohen hit a 3-pointer a minute just before the end, and the stiff Lions defense forced a missed three on Princeton’s end with 49 seconds left, giving Meiko Lyles the game-winning 3-point chance, which he sunk with perfection.

With Columbia down 12-2 early in the game, and facing an 8-point deficit at the half, stiff defense was the only thing keeping the Lions in the game at all. As usual, Alex Rosenberg put up strong offensive numbers with 19 points. Game hero Meiko Lyles played stellar defense, and Isaac Cohen enjoyed a solid performance in the come-from-behind Lions win. The basketball team is 14-8, with a 3-2 Ivy League record. After a close loss to Penn on Saturday, this weekend’s home contest against Harvard is essentially a must-win if the Lions hope to stay in the Ivy League race. Tip for those who don’t know: the 3-2 Ivy record matters more than the solid 14-8 season record. Come support the team on Friday night, 7 pm, in Levien.

Fencing tied for the Ivy League conference title with a 4-1 record in the tournament, the team’s highest finish since 2008. The men’s team, ranked no. 1, held that accolade and unseated Harvard, 2013’s winner. Geoffrey Loss won an outstanding fencer award. The 5th-ranked women’s team took 3rd place in the tournament, finishing behind Princeton and Harvard. Now, go build a “fence” around that fencing trophy of yours, men. Protect it with your sabres!

Oh, and apparently the team is helped out by a Yoda-like, 82-year old coach

*Nine Columbia fencers earned all-Ivy League honors: 6 men and women made first-team and 3 made second-team. Congratulations on a great season.

In a season of firsts, the women’s swimming and diving team defeated Dartmouth on home water yesterday to end the dual-meet season with a 7-0 record. After defeating Princeton on Friday, the Lion women honored their seniors with a dominant 167-124 performance. Ironically, on the day she was being honored, senior Alena Kluge had two records broken by younger teammate Gabbie Toback, the most notable of which was the 1:58.25 200 backstroke performance, a program and Uris Pool record. The women next head to Providence to swim (and dive) for the Ivy League Championship on Feb. 20-22.

Columbia track-and-field athletes competed admirably in the Armory Collegiate Invitational, with four athletes setting personal records and six finishing within the top ten.

In non-collegiate sporting, the US has begun its pursuit of the most gold medals once again at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. Despite all the mishaps, the sporting events are going well so far. Since this Olympics marks the 34-year anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, here’s hoping the US hockey team starts off well this Thursday in pursuit of a defeat of Russia again.

Defeating Princeton for the first time in three years via Shutterstock