Gamecenter: St. Francis (NY) 64, Columbia 83

Posted on by Jake Wilson in Columbia, Gamecenter, Ivy League
1st 2nd Final
St. Francis (NY) (3-7) 37 27 64
Columbia (4-6) 40 43 83
Levien Gym – New York, NY Boxscore
Keys to the Game
Key sequence Columbia had led nearly the entire game by a comfortable margin, but was having trouble shaking off St. Francis until an 11-1 run midway through the second half. It was 59-54 after a Kayode Ayeni layup at the the 9:40 mark, but Joe Bova’s three-pointer gave the Lions an eight-point advantage. After a Kevin Bulger steal, Ben Nwachukwu grabbed an offensive board and was fouled, hitting both free throws. Nwachukwu was perfect at the line again on the next Columbia possession, then added a bucket the next time down the court. After a Ricky Cadell free throw, Brett Loscalzo found John Baumann with the shot clock running out for a dunk that gave the Lions a 70-55 lead with 4:52 to play.
Key sign it was over The Lions finished off the Terriers by capping off a 21-5 run with Loscalzo’s three-pointer at the 2:24 mark that gave the hosts an 80-59 lead.
Key performance Two days after going scoreless against Lafayette, Nwachukwu played the best game of his collegiate career. The senior eclipsed the 20-point mark for just the third time in a Columbia jersey, coming up just four points shy of his personal scoring mark with 21 points on 6-for-8 shooting. Nwachukwu also snared a career-high 16 rebounds and even recorded a new personal best in blocks with four in 33 minutes.
Key statistic Columbia rained threes on a St. Francis team that came in ranked 10th in the nation at preventing the three-pointer. The Lions took 28 shots from beyond the arc and knocked down 12 of them — good for 42.9 percent shooting. As a result, they outscored the Terriers by 24 points from long range.
Notes

– Joining Nwachukwu in double figures for Columbia were K.J Matsui (17 points on 5-for-8 shooting from three), Niko Scott (14 points), and Baumann (10 points).

– Jamaal Womack was the high point man for St. Francis with 19 points.

– Patrick Foley missed his fourth game in a row with a shoulder injury.

– The Terriers were abysmal at the line, where they attempted nine more free throws than the Lions, yet were outscored by three at the stripe. St. Francis finished just 12 of 26 on free throws (46.2 percent).

– The St. Francis bench received a technical foul in the second half with Columbia leading by just six that led to a four-point possession and a double-digit margin.

– After taking their final exams, the Lions will be back in action in Saturday, December 22, when Joe Jones returns the Main Line outside Philadelphia to face his former employer, Villanova, in a 7:00 pm ET contest.

Jake Wilson

Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Basketball U.

Jake Wilson wrote 754 posts

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