Columbia men’s basketball uses dominant second-half performance to down Fairfield, 85-72

After finding itself down nine at the half to Fairfield, the Columbia men’s basketball team found its offensive groove over the final 20 minutes, outscoring its opponents by 22 points to come away with a convincing 85-72 victory at Levien Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

The win puts Jim Engles’ Lions at 11-1 on the season, including a perfect 8-0 record at home. Meanwhile, the Stags, which were undefeated when leading at the midway point this season, ended the day at 5-8.
Fairfield used runs of 11-0, 7-0 and 12-3 to open up a 39-25 lead with just under two minutes to go in the first half, but the Lions finished the frame on a 7-2 advantage to make it 41-32 heading into the locker rooms.

Not having played a game in 19 days and a Division I squad in 24 days, it was not a surprise that Columbia was rusty coming out of the gate.

The Lions entered the game shooting 38% from three against D-I competition, which was top 40 in the nation, but they only managed to connect on 27% (3-for-11) in the first half.  On the other side, the Stags had the hot hands, connecting on 55% (6-for-11) from downtown.

Columbia also struggled to hold onto the ball, turning it over eight times and allowing Fairfield to notch 16 points off those errors.

Senior guard Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, the Lions’ leading scorer, had zero points on a 0-for-4 effort from beyond the arc and was on a three-plus-game streak of 1-for-14 from three.

But the fortunes of Rubio De La Rosa and Columbia quickly changed.

With the Stags up 46-36, the Lions went on a 12-3 run, featuring back-to-back triples from Rubio De La Rosa, to make it a one-point game at the 14:03 mark.

As the clock ticked under 11 minutes, junior guard Kenny Noland drove hard to the hoop and his layup gave Columbia a 54-53 lead, its first since 6-4.

The teams kept things close over the next few minutes, and the game was knotted at 60 when the Lions made their biggest move of the day.

First, Rubio De La Rosa hit a stepback three from the left elbow, then junior guard Avery Brown nailed a triple from the top of the arc.

Following two free throws from Brown, first year forward Mason Ritter forced a turnover with a block.

On the next possession, Rubio De La Rosa hit a three-pointer from the right elbow.

After another empty effort from the Stags, Brown drove into traffic, sinking the contested layup and hitting the ensuing free throw.

With three and a half minutes to go in regulation, Columbia found themselves up 74-60 and seemingly in control of the contest.

Fairfield cut the deficit to 10 a minute later, but the game was finally put out of reach after a dunk from Ritter, as well as a runner and a deep three from just inside the Lions logo by Rubio De La Rosa, made it 83-66 with 44 seconds remaining.

Over the decisive 20 minutes, Columbia offense was on fire, shooting 73% (11-for-15) from two, 55% from three (6-for-11), and a perfect 100% (13-for-13) from the line. In addition to only committing three turnovers in the second half, the Lions held the Stags to 36% (5-for-14) from inside the arc, 39% (7-for-18) from outside the arc, and 50% (3-for-6) from the charity stripe.

Rubio De La Rosa finished the afternoon with 27 points, featuring a 5-for-6 effort from three in the second half.

Brown ended with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting, while Noland added 12 points.

Columbia was without the services of junior forward Blair Thompson, who was away from the team for personal reasons, according to ESPN+ broadcaster Lance Medow. Despite missing the team’s top rebounder and third leading scorer, the Lions frontcourt picked up the slack.

Junior forward Zine Eddine Bedri had a monster game with 12 points on 6-for-7 shooting and 17 rebounds, and first-year Mason Ritter, making his first-ever start, had a career-high 12 points on a 5-for-5 effort from the field.

Columbia will finish its non-conference schedule with a Monday matchup at Rutgers at 5 p.m., then wait 12 days before hosting Cornell in the Ivy opener on Jan. 11.