Feb. 23, 2008
NEW YORK, N.Y. - John Baumann had 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lead Columbia to a 68-62 victory over Yale before a crowd of 1,234 at Levien Gym. Baumann was 6 of 8 from the field and made 12 of 19 free throws. Ross Morin scored 13 points and grabbed six rebounds to pace the Bulldogs.
Yale (10-14, 4-6 Ivy) led 43-42 with 10:31 left, but the Lions scored the next seven points. Columbia built the lead to 11, 57-46, before the Bulldogs rallied. Nick Holmes's three-pointer cut the deficit to three, 60-57, with 1:53 remaining.
Baumann, though, answered with a jumper, and after Caleb Holmes missed a three-pointer, Mack Montgomery hit two free throws with 58 seconds left to give Columbia a 64-57 lead.
"We had ample opportunities in the game," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "Our guys fought to the end. We were down 11, but we came back and had a chance in the end."
Asenso Ampim was the only other Columbia player to reach double figures, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds. K.J. Matsui scored nine points.
Caleb Holmes had 11 points and four assists for the Bulldogs. Alex Zampier added nine points, and Travis Pinick, Matt Kyle and Eric Flato all scored seven.
The Lions (13-12, 6-4 Ivy) shot 47.7 percent from the field in the game and made 22 of 31 free throws. Yale made 22 of 55 shots (40 percent) and struggled from beyond the three-point arc, making only six of 23 treys.
"We settled for jump shots and we didn't make enough of them," Jones said.
The Bulldogs started the game strong, racing out to a 14-7 lead after six minutes. Yale took its biggest lead, 25-15, on Zampier's jumper with 7:50 left. Columbia answered with a 10-2 run and then closed to within 33-32 at halftime.
The Bulldogs return to the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater next weekend to host Penn on Friday at 7 p.m. and Princeton on Saturday at 8 p.m. The game with Penn will be televised on the YES Network.
Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity