The Lions let out a whimper as they fell to the Marist Red Foxes 67-82, leaving them 0-2 for the season.

Game Summary

Although Columbia had the support of an 891-person crowd, both the Columbia Cheer and Dance teams, and some potentially biased referees, the Lions could not keep up with the Red Foxes’ incredible shooting skills and fell behind in the second half for a demoralizing 15-point loss. Columbia managed to keep up with Marist in the first half, only trailing by four points at halftime, but their abysmal shooting in the second half put any hope of victory out of reach as Marist pulled away. Not only was the game incredibly messy, with 18 turnovers for Marist and 17 for Columbia, but the Lions had severe issues with picking the ball up before knowing what their next move was going to be, leading to a lot of stalling and last-second hail-Mary shots. If the Lions want any chance at making up for their first two games, they’ll need to improve their court vision and communication skills—otherwise, they’ll be stuck in the same pattern of losing that dominated their 2019-2020 season.

First Half

Marist started the game off strong, netting 14 points against Columbia’s four within the first five minutes of the game. The Lions quickly answered, however, with forward Liam Murphy (CC ’24) scoring six points and forward Patrick Harding (CC ’23) making two field goals to tie the score at 17-17. Unfortunately, this tie score would be the closest that Columbia came to taking the lead in this game, as the Red Foxes responded by scoring nine unanswered points. The Lions and Foxes traded points throughout the remainder of the half, with Columbia dominating in the paint, while Marist excelled from long range, hitting 62% of their three-pointers. Murphy continued to lead his team in scoring throughout the first half, putting up an impressive 15 points with the help of teammate Geronimo Rubio de la Rosa (CC ’25), who finished the half with six assists.

Halftime: 42-46 Columbia

Second Half

Emboldened by the cheering crowd and the Columbia Dance Team’s halftime performance, the Lions came within one point of the Foxes following an impressive hook shot by Harding and a three by Cameron Shockley-Okeke (CC ’23). The teams traded points for a while, but Columbia’s shooting was ice-cold, as the team made only 33% of their field goals, 25% of their 3s, and 50% of their free throws this half (they’re called free throws for a reason…). As we all know, the first rule of any sports game is that you can’t win if you don’t score, and although the Lions had plenty of opportunities, Marist blew them out of the water during a 1-13 scoring run late in the second half to secure a victory.

Final Score: 67-82 Columbia

Columbia’s next two games will be at home on Wednesday, November 17 against Binghampton and Saturday, November 20 against Mount St. Vincent.

the captivated audience with a distant Roar-ee via Bwog Staff