Lions crumble in second half, fall to Princeton 84-69 in Ivy opener

Upper West Side NY

08 January, 2022

3:17 PM

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Columbia Daily Spectator BY MATTHEW KIM • JANUARY 8, 2022, 12:39 AM Friday night was a tale of two halves for Columbia men's basketball. After what would have been their Ivy League opener against Yale on Jan. 2 was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, the Lions headed to Princeton on Friday to officially kick off conference play in their first game since Dec. 13. Despite leading 45-33 at the break, Columbia (3-10, 0-1 Ivy) was outscored by the Tigers (11-3, 1-0 Ivy) 51-24 in the second half, ultimately falling 84-69. "In the second half, I think we just stopped playing," head coach Jim Engles said. "We just have to learn how to play with pace and fight through the adjustments. … The amount of inconsistency is obviously just a huge sticking point for us." Bolstered by hot outside shooting, the Lions took an early 15-4 lead. However, led by guard Jaelin Llewellyn and forward Tosan Evbuomwan, the Tigers narrowed the lead, making the score 26-25. Still, the Light Blue squad showed poise. Senior forward Ike Nweke scored 10 points in the final six minutes of the half, including an impressive one-handed jam. Putting a bow on one of the Lions' strongest halves of the season, first-year guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa sank a deep three right before time expired to extend Columbia's lead to 12. At the break, the Lions, who initially entered the game as 15.5-point underdogs, had held the Ivy League's best three-point shooting team to 0-9 shooting from beyond the arc and 15-39 from the field. Meanwhile, Columbia shot 19-32 from the field and scored a red-hot 5-7 from downtown. Despite losing the turnover battle 8-3, the Lions were in a strong position. All of that would change in the second half. The Tigers ended their cold streak with triples from Llewellyn and forward Drew Friberg, and eventually took their first lead of the game at 55-54. Multiple turnovers and poor transition defense by the Light Blue gave Princeton easy opportunities, and the Tigers capitalized, scoring 15 points unanswered to give them a comfortable 70-56 lead with just under 9 minutes left. Meanwhile, Columbia's offense went cold. Through the first 13 minutes of the second half, the Lions had barely scored as many points. Junior guard Eddie Turner III, who only played four minutes in the first half, gave the Light Blue's offense some juice, scoring 8 straight for the Lions, but it was not enough. The Tigers completed a dominant second half and secured the 15-point victory. Many of the Lions' offensive problems in the second half resulted in part from a lack of ball movement, according to Engles. The Light Blue posted only two assists in the second half compared to its eight assists in the first. Compounding the offense's stagnation, the Lions were outrebounded 22-13 and committed 10 more turnovers, bringing their turnover total to 18. Five of those turnovers came from Rubio De La Rosa, who was bottled up for 8 points on 3-10 shooting. With their lead ball handler struggling to create shots, the Lions, who often played two bigs on the floor, found success in the post. Nweke recorded a career-high 22 points, hitting numerous fadeaway jumpers. Two of his buckets came off of passes by junior forward Patrick Harding, who slotted back into the starting lineup in place of sophomore forward Josh Odunowo. On the other end, the Lions had trouble slowing down Evbuomwan. While Princeton often double teamed Harding and Nweke when they caught the ball, the Light Blue opted to defend Evbuomwan one on one, a decision made in part to limit the Tigers' three-point shooting, according to Engles. With shooters all around the perimeter, Evbuomwan had plenty of room to operate and finished the game with a team-high 22 points to go along with 6 steals. "They're gonna have five guys on the court that can do a lot of different things," Engles said. "You got to pick your poison." Llewellyn nearly matched Evbuomwan's performance, dropping 21 points on 8-14 shooting from the field, while guard Ethan Wright added 17. With the Ivy League gauntlet now beginning, Engles decided to lengthen his rotation: 10 different Lions played at least 10 minutes. "I want these guys to gain as much experience as possible," Engles said. "I think we have some guys that can be good players, and they need to play. … In this league, you have to have depth, and I want to develop these guys." After coming close with their strong first half showing, the Lions will get another shot at earning their first Ancient Eight win in nearly two years tomorrow night at Penn. Tip-off is at 6 p.m. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.