Gamecenter: Columbia 55, Lehigh 54

	1st	2nd	Final
Columbia (8-5)	18	37	55
Lehigh (5-11)	26	28	54


Stabler Arena – Bethlehem, PA	Boxscore

Keys to the Game
Key sequence	Columbia trailed by three when Niko Scott was fouled, hitting both free throws to make it a one-point game with 1:56 remaining. Jose Olivero couldn’t connect on a three-pointer, but Lehigh was awarded the ball out of bounds. Following a missed Neptune jumper, Scott was called for traveling with 52 seconds left. The Mountain Hawks ran down the shot clock before Marquis Hall misfired and Columbia called timeout with 14.8 seconds left. Out of the timeout, Foley put up an airball from three, but Scott was there to grab the offensive board. Lehigh’s Phil Anderson was whistled for what Lehigh sports information termed a “questionable” foul just before the buzzer, sending Scott back to the line for two attempts.
Key sign it was over	With the home crowd howling and Lehigh using a timeout to give Niko Scott plenty of time to think about his free throws, the Columbia freshman stepped to the line with 0.4 seconds left and drilled both shots from the stripe. Despite needing to go the length of the floor in less than a second, the Mountain Hawks came surprisingly close to pulling out the win when Anderson got a decent look at the buzzer. But his shot bounced off the front of the rim and the Lions left Stabler Arena with an unlikely victory.
Key performance	With his team struggling offensively early on, John Baumann shouldered the scoring load. The junior was the only Lion to score in double figures, getting all 12 of his points on three-pointers with a 4-for-6 evening from beyond the arc. Baumann also grabbed six rebounds and handed out three assists in 36 minutes.
Key statistic	While Columbia’s outside shooting kept it in the game, it was the Lions’ 11-for-12 performance at the line in the second half that made the difference in this one. The visitors hit their final 10 attempts from the stripe over the final 4:15, including Scott’s perfect 7-for-7 shooting in that span.

Notes

– Neptune led all scorers with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting, while Lehigh’s leading scorer, Olivero, was held to just seven points — well below his season average of 17.7 points per game.

– Columbia finished the game a scorching 11-for-20 (55.0 percent) from beyond the arc, while Lehigh was just 4 of 14 (28.6 percent) from distance.

– The Lions scored just six points in the game’s first 14:21, but good three-point shooting the rest of the first half kept them in the game, down just 26-18 at halftime.

– Columbia lost the turnover battle 19-11, but Lehigh did a very poor job of capitalizing on those mistakes, as the Lions actually outscored the Mountain Hawks 10-9 in points off turnovers.

– Ben Nwachukwu had another quiet night offensively, failing to hit a field goal and getting all four of his points at the free throw line. Lehigh outscored Columbia 20-4 in the paint.

– The Lions have a final non-league tune-up at home against Division III Marywood on Saturday, January 6 at 2:00 pm ET, before starting Ivy League play.

Basketball U.

Gamecenter: Columbia 55, Lehigh 54

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.

Basketball U.

Jake Wilson

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Basketball U.