Mike Martin

Brown men’s basketball takes down Columbia in overtime for first Ivy League win

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In a physical battle that featured 17 lead changes and 15 ties over 45 minutes, Brown men’s basketball opened up its largest lead of the game in the extra session and held on for an 86-80 victory over Columbia at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday afternoon.

Mike Martin’s Bears (7-8, 1-2 Ivy League) picked up their first conference win in three tries, while Kevin Hovde’s Lions (12-5, 1-2) dropped their second straight Ancient Eight contest.

“Really, really pleased,” Martin told the ESPN+/NESN broadcast team after the game. “That was a hard, hard-fought game. They’re (Columbia) a heck of a team.”

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Kent: Does Ivy League hear alarm bells with another departure?

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With the news that Alexander Lesburt Jr. is pulling a Caden Pierce at Brown men’s basketball, sitting out his senior season and entering the portal, the alarm bells are getting louder and louder.

First, as to Lesburt. He was expected to be a key player for Mike Martin after averaging 10.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season and is a skilled three-point shooter. But he is no longer on the team, Brown announced Tuesday, noting he left the program to preserve his final year of eligibility.

Numerous Ivy players in basketball and other sports are exploring this three-year graduation route to obtain a coveted Ivy League degree and get another payday year elsewhere.

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2025-26 IHO Men’s Preseason Poll

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The 2025-26 Ivy men’s basketball season tips off Friday, so it’s time for Ivy Hoops Online’s preseason poll – not to be confused with the Ivy League-released media preseason poll. Here’s how our contributors collectively predict the league will shake out, with select observations from some of them:

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New year, same goal for Brown men’s hoops

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(Steve Silverman | Ivy Hoops Online)

Brown men’s basketball has not danced since 1986, but head coach Mike Martin is like a kid in a candy store when he talks about that goal. With year 14 fast approaching for Martin, it’s the furious pursuit of March magic that keeps his feet planted in Providence. 

“The administration here, president [Christina] Paxson and [vice president for athletics and recreation] Grace Calhoun have been incredibly supportive in trying to help grow our program,” Martin told Ivy Hoops Online. “This is the job I’ve always wanted.”

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“We’re not done”: Dartmouth men’s basketball clinches first Ivy tourney berth with 78-58 win over Brown

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Brown and Dartmouth men’s basketball tip off Saturday at Leede Arena for what became a 78-58 win for the Big Green over the Bears. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

HANOVER, N.H. – Dartmouth inadvertently flashed a graphic momentarily before Saturday’s pivotal game against Brown that read, “Ivy Madness Clinched.”.

Fortunately for the Big Green, there has been little to jinx them in the 2024-25 Ivy League season, as they shook off a dreadful start and halftime deficit to win by another lopsided margin, 78-58, and clinch its first Ivy League Tournament berth in school history at Leede Arena.

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Strong second-half defense propels Brown men’s basketball to 59-52 win at Harvard

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In an early Friday evening battle between fifth-place teams at Lavietes Pavilion, the Brown men’s basketball team held Harvard without a bucket for over nine minutes in the second half to help overcome an 11-point deficit and come away with a hard-fought 59-52 victory.

The result marks the eighth time in the last nine meetings between the two New England rivals that the visiting team came away with the win.

After all of the Ancient Eight’s contests were in the books for the evening, the Bears (14-11, 6-6 Ivy), which evened their season series with the Crimson (10-15, 5-7), sit alone in fifth place one game off the pace of Cornell, Dartmouth and Princeton. Harvard, meanwhile, is alone in sixth place with only two games left in the regular season.

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“It evens out”: Cornell men’s basketball has momentum after flipping late-game script at Brown

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Cornell and Brown men’s basketball tip off at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday for what became an 85-81 win for Cornell over Brown. (Ray Curren | Ivy Hoops Online)

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – After Friday night’s tough loss at Yale, Cornell first-year head coach Jon Jaques lamented that if a break or two had gone his team’s way down the stretch, the final result might have been different.

Sure enough, less than 24 hours later, in an even bigger spot for the Big Red at a Brown team they were tied with in the Ivy League standings, there they were in the closing minutes with the game in the balance.

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Cornell men’s basketball beats Brown, 85-81, to move into third place

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Brown basketball fans got to see two thrillers at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Saturday. Unfortunately for them, the Bears went down to crushing defeats in both contests.

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Brown men’s basketball dominates Columbia, 86-61, for third straight win

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The Brown men’s basketball team combined unselfish offensive play with a strong defensive effort to cruise to an easy 86-61 victory over Columbia in a Friday evening tussle at the Pizzitola Sports Center.

The victory avenges a 74-72 loss at Levien Gymnasium on February 8.

Since that defeat, Mike Martin’s Bears (13-10, 5-5 Ivy) have won three in a row and moved into a tie for fourth place with Cornell.

While Bruno continues its drive towards its second consecutive appearance in the Ivy League Tournament, Jim Engles’ Lions (12-11, 1-9), which have suffered defeats in three straight games and 10 of their last 11, has officially been eliminated from the postseason.

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Second-half comeback propels Dartmouth men’s basketball to an 84-83 win at Brown

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After battling back from a 13-point second-half deficit, Dartmouth men’s basketball stymied Brown on its last two possessions and senior guard Ryan Cornish netted the last four points of the game, including two clutch free throws with 18 seconds left in regulation, to notch an 84-83 win at the Pizzitola Sports Center Saturday.

“As a senior, these guys are counting on me to get wins,” Cornish told ESPN+ after the team’s first Ivy League road win of the season. “If I’m shooting two free throws at the line, I’ve got to think who I’m doing it for.”

With three weeks of Ancient Eight competition in the books, the Big Green (8-9, 2-2 Ivy) are tied for fourth with Penn, while the Bears (9-8, 1-3) are matched with Harvard for sixth.

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