our lions enter the ivy league season playing their best basketball to date. the five games we excitedly anticipated back in mid-december proved as thrilling as we thought they might and more successful than we dared hope. admittedly, the wins over fairleigh dickinson and st. francis (brooklyn) were one sided affairs in which the visiting losers had no real chance against the longer, better shooting and defensively active lions. but the visit to hamilton, new york and the double overtime win there against colgate’s raiders might be seen as the most significant battle of the season should the lions go on to a successful ivy campaign. for it was at colgate that coach smith’s crew fought back from seven points down with only two minutes to go against a competitive opponent and rallied to columbia’s first road win. alex rosenberg, one of the gray beard juniors on this young lion team, led the way offensively, netting 23 points and snagging 9 boards, but the night’s greatest hero was probably sophomore noah springwater who shut down colgate’s scoring leader, austin tillotson, over the last five minutes of regulation time and held that raider to but three throws in the two ot’s. his yeoman’s work let doc rosenberg’s contributions culminate in victory.
that upstate win followed the lions only loss of this encouraging five game arc. on the last saturday of 2013, coach smith’s boys traveled to the brand spanking new barclays center in downtown brooklyn and gave steve lavin’s red storm all they could handle. there was absolutely no dishonor, and very little disappointment in the six point failure. in any event, that margin made winners of those columbia bettors with the courage of their convictions. more importantly, the game showed off the emerging grit of this club as they clawed back from a fourteen point deficit in the second half and actually headed the johnnies at 51 -50 with just about nine minutes left in the contest. coach lavin called an effective timeout that settled his boys from queens. st. john’s, which took the court with a renewed sense of defensive commitment, soon regained the lead en route to their 65 – 59 victory. nevertheless, the 17 – 2 run that had carried the lions to their slim edge was notably featured a rotation that would start up at colgate and has started ever since. that five consists of maodo lo, grant mullins, isaac cohen, messr rosenberg and the crew’s frosh phenom, luke petrasek who has taken over the starting center duties from junior cory osetkowski. petrasek is a terrific passer who makes the entire offense more active. lo and rosenberg, especially, have blossomed in this new arrangement and they showcased their offensive prowess most spectacularly against the stony brook seawolves on january 8. young maodo went off for a career high 29 points while rosenberg cashed 23 on a night when the lid stayed firmly on the bucket for all other lion shooters. the duo chipped in 15 boards between them to boot, and their efforts proved sufficient to ensure a 68 – 63 victory. though no longer starting, cory osetkowski played tough defense on stony brook’s man child center, jamaal warney. the sea wolf star fought hard for 20 points but could only grab 4 rebounds, less than half his normal helping of boards.
so a hot columbia squad prepares for the league tip off this saturday at levien against cornell’s big red. the lions should win comfortably. cornell, now four years removed from back to back ncaa tournament appearances, has won but once (downing div iii oberlin) and has been hammered in most of its losses. columbia cannot be complacent about their opponent, however. just last year, columbia traveled to ithaca where they were treated to a rare road win. the following weekend, though, they returned the favor to the big red when that crew came to the heights. if the lions expect to make some noise this year, they must sweep cornell. that is very doable. let’s not forget though what happened this past saturday, as america wasted its attention on the nfl playoffs. a 3 – 12 penn quaker squad dominated the backboards and humbled haughty princeton. there is something about the historical memory of these squads that transcends the inadequacies of a particular team, that makes hash of comparative records. fie on such superstitious thinking, says paulie b! looking at the stats to date, columbia should sweep cornell on consecutive saturdays, and that second contest marks the beginning of three weeks on the road.
the lions end january and start february with a swing up the north shore of long island sound. the foray will bring the boys up against two likely ivy player of the year candidates. the elis loom on friday and young mr. petrasek as well as the older mr. osetkowski better be ready for yale’s justin sears, who might be the most effective center in the league. he was a handful last year when a dinged up columbia squad, reeling from a heartbreaking loss the night before to brown, played its flattest game of the season in new haven. all game was there and it is no exaggeration to say, despite steve frankoski’s 16 points, that not one athlete in light blue performed well. stinko from top to bottom, beginning to end. the yale frontcourt exploited the lions down low that evening at the distinguished, if ill-lit, payne whitney gymnasium. it should be added that eli coach james jones is one of coach smith’s toughest match ups. he has only lost once to the lion skipper. we expect, however, that building on the experience of their win at colgate and the expected victory at ithaca on the 25th, our lions will win their third straight ivy contest. the journey continues on saturday and the first of february brings a longed for opportunity at payback in providence. last season, the bruins rallied from 10 down in the second half to break lion hearts. to get past brown, smith’s crew will have to control brown’s terrific guard, sean mcgonagill who averages 18.7 ppg to go along with 3.5 assists and 4 rebounds. this year marks the senior’s farewell tour of the league and mcgonagill has generally feasted on the lions over his four seasons. indeed, back in 2011, young sean introduced himself to the new yorkers by promptly dropping 39 on them. he has gone on to average just shy of 20 against columbia for his career. the lions must make him work for every point, and we hope that noah springwater gets a chance to showcase his defensive expertise against the departing star. if mcgonagill is checked, the lions’ depth should prevail. allgame will be in the stands in providence to help the boys along.
they next bring their victory 2014 tour to glamorous south jersey for the annual tussle with greater trenton’s finest liberal arts college. the boys fell behind early at princeton last year, rallied encouragingly but finally lost. the tigers’ ian hummer, who nailed down that victory for the home team, has graduated, thankfully. but princeton now features guard, and perennial thorn in the lions’ paw, t. j. bray. another league player of the year candidate, bray is averaging 17.4 ppg, that he backs up with 6.2 assists and 1.2 steals every night. his guard play is complemented by the work of forward hans brase, a 6′ 8″ sophomore netting 12 ppg while grabbing 6 boards nightly. up front, the tigers also feature senior will barrett, a 6′ 10″ forward who scores 11.6 points while grabbing 3.9 rebounds and senior denton koon, a 6′ 8″ senior who adds 10 points and 4 boards to the tiger stat line. this is an efficient, and long princeton squad, playing better than expected after hummer’s departure and they will be a tough out. a loss here will be unfortunate but likely. saturday night will offer the chance for a quick bounce back and penn should be whipped. but chickens should not be counted too quickly. the philadelphians have struggled during the non-league campaign, but they broke a seven game skid with the aforementioned 77 – 74 upset of princeton to launch their ivy schedule. senior forward fran dougherty (6’8″) and sophomore guard tony hicks combine for 28 points and 10 rebounds per game. the quakers can get hot from the three point line (55.6%, in a loss! to rider) and hit the boards – just ask princeton.
this three week, five game road trip ends with the lions returning home for a st. valentine’s weekend against the defending league champeens from harvard and coach paul cormier’s boys from dartmouth. assuming they’re healthy, they should still be fresh for the crimson (whom they beat last year at levien) and the pesky big green. we’ll preview those contests, which we hope will have league title implications and the prospects for the lions’ second time through the league in a subsequent essay.
no lovelier time of the year. dead winter and fourteen, consequential, ivy league games on tap. for seven weeks, every rebound precious, every free throw crucial.
peace out and d up,
paulie b
lion fans old and new enjoying the battle of brooklyn against st. john’s