What form!

Columbia is a Division I school and that’s a big deal.  This year our basketball team has been doing pretty darn well and we’re glad to share that news with you.  However, we understand you’re a busy student or that maybe you’re not really a sports expert, so School Sports Superfan Max Rettig has all the info you need on this weekend’s sweep, our Greek life’s 3-point skillz, and everything else Lions-related.

The Lions won two huge games against Ivy League opponents this weekend, defeating Brown in a close 2-point game on Friday, and taking down Yale in an assertive 62-46 win on Sunday. This is the first weekend sweep for the Lions since the 2008-09 season.

On Friday, the Lions and Bears traded baskets throughout the game, which saw the lead change an astounding 17 times, with 8 ties. As the game was winding down, and with a large home crowd on its feet, hoping for an exciting win, Maodo Lo was fouled with the score tied 68-68. The scoreboard showed just 14 seconds left when Lo hit a pair of free-throws to put Columbia on top. With just 2.5 seconds left, and after a Brown timeout, the Bears threw the ball up on a wing and a prayer, but it fell short of the basket and the crowd erupted with the win.

Rosenberg continued his great play, putting up 23 points, and Meiko Lyles continued his clutch 3-point shooting, going 5-5 from behind the arc. Lyles came just short of a double-double performance (21 points, 9 rebounds). Maodo Lo had 15 points.

Fast-forward to Sunday afternoon: NBC Sports Network TV trucks were stationed outside NoCo. Columbia’s Greek life came out, with many frats and sororities showing their Greek CU pride. But nothing overshadowed the Lions’ performance today. After Yale led for a short time, the Lions took the lead for the rest of the game. Steve Frankoski started the game on a tear, hitting several first-half shots, including several 3-pointers that got the Columbia fans roaring. With just over 9 minutes left before halftime, Frankoski led an 11-2 run and the Lions took a 30-23 lead into the lockers. During halftime, representatives of several frats and sororities competed in a 3-point contest. AEPi’s Scott Scheff won with 1 basket. After halftime, the Lions came back out and continued their domination, increasing their lead to as much as 21 points. Yale got really desperate and started fouling with the game clock expiring. The Lions got hold of the ball, ran the final shot clock down, and with just about 2 seconds left, and a really loud Columbia crowd, the Bulldogs tried to put up one last shot, but that attempt fell to the side and Columbia won by 16.

The Lions shot 43.5 percent from the floor, and hit 17-22 from the stripe. Rosenberg put up 18 points and 6 boards to lead the game’s scoring, and Maodo Lo knocked down 16 points for another solid game. The Lions halted Yale’s winning streak and pulled within 2 games of the 2nd-place Bulldogs. The Lions are 17-10, 6-4 Ivy League, with 4 games left on the season. They play at Dartmouth and Harvard next weekend.

The track and field team (men’s and women’s) broke several CU records at an invitational this weekend. The four-man team of John Gregorek, Harrison McFann, Brandon Fish and Daniel Everett ran a 9:30.72 in the distance medley relay. The team has a good chance of competing in the NCAA championship. The women’s distance medley relay team also broke a school record with an 11:16.65 time. Both men and women will run in next weekend’s Ivy League Championships.

The softball team opened its season this weekend. The Lions fell 2-10 to Nicholls State and lost a close 4-5 game to Houston. Alyssa Rodia hit a 2-run home run, the first of her career, in the contest against Nicholls St. Emily Snodgrass, Macy Shrum and Shelby Unger went the distance in the Houston game. The team (0-5) also lost, sadly, to North Dakota State to both open the season and close the tournament. They play in Hampton, Virginia, next weekend.

The women’s swimming and diving team competed in the Ivy League Championships this weekend, and Mikaila Gaffey took the Ivy League title in 100 Breast. Her times in the preliminary and final events were 1:01.45 and 1:01.05, both personal bests and the latter a record for Brown’s home water. The whole team finished 4th overall at the championships.

Lacrosse won its home opener 20-11.

Wrestling took good care of Brown, winning 33-9, and Harvard, 33-10.

Women’s squash defeated Bates College 7-2, but lost to GW 4-5.

Men’s Fencing won 18-9 vs NYU, women’s won 19-8.

 Ballin’ via gocolumbialions.com