take aways from a terrific weekend

patrick tape was, appropriately, named the ivy league player of the week after leading the columbia lions to consecutive road wins in providence and new haven.  the big guy averaged 16 points per game and grabbed 6.5 rebounds per contest.  he now moves smoothly and confidently down on the blocks and can score over anyone […] Read more »

lions look to awake from the nightmare of history as the killer p’s visit

when brown’s tamenchang choh jumped over kyle castlin and grabbed the rebound of brandon anderson’s intentionally missed free throw with nine seconds remaining in overtime last saturday in providence, lion fans would have been forgiven their overwhelming sense of deja vu.  only a week before, a missed free throw by dartmouth’s adrease jackson had managed […] Read more »

baby, it’s cold outside

this is the weather that birthed basketball.  our so far bitter northeast winter evokes warm memories of overheated, sweat stinking gymnasiums and young athletes running the hardwood.  no more appropriate opponent, then, for the lions to finish 2017 against than the maine black bears from frigid orono.  doubly appropriate since the lions started the year […] Read more »

staying alive! the lions stop the quakers

one day after playing perhaps their worst game of the year, a gritty lion squad ended the penn basketball team’s five game winning streak and put themselves in position to play in the first ivy league post season hoops tournament. it was the most thrilling new york – philly dust up in, almost exactly, 38 […] Read more »

downs and ups, a gritty lion squad gets ready to visit new england

the lions five traveled to philadelphia on february 10th and fell to a previously winless (in league) pennsylvania crew.  the failure is gruesome enough given the quakers’ previous ineptitude but columbia managed to revert to those behaviors it had seemed to overcome recently.  no one scored other than the core three – petrasek, hickman and […] Read more »

half way home

last weekend, the lion hoops crew split two rousing battles in front of nearly packed houses.  the games against yale and brown both featured the lions’ now tough, if not impenetrable, 2 – 3 zone, improved three point shooting and increased offensive contributions from the bench.  those three things resulted in a win over the […] Read more »

a lot of fun but still a loss

when paulie b was undergraduating, he spent nearly as much time playing half court hoops as he did contemplating matters literary.  lacking a quick first step or reliable jump shot, he depended on enthusiastic rebounding, pestiferous hand checking defense and the setting of hard screens to stay on the floor.  the experience  left your correspondent […] Read more »