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The Brown men’s basketball team used a 21-point effort by senior forward Landon Lewis and a career-high 20-point performance from junior guard Luke Paragon to beat Princeton, 80-71, at the Pizzitola Sports Center on Friday night.
With their Ivy Madness chances hanging by a thread, the Bears (9-15, 3-8 Ivy) picked up a second straight win and moved to within a game of the seventh-place Tigers (8-18, 4-7), which lost their fourth in a row.
HANOVER, N.H. – Throughout a more than a little frustrating season, the defense has not been the problem for Brown men’s basketball.
The Bears are solidly in the middle of the pack in Ivy League defensive efficiency.
But the Bears just can’t score. Or more appropriately, they can’t shoot, ranking among one of the worst teams nationally in effective field-goal shooting (as well as three-point shooting).
All of which made the second half at Leede Arena Saturday night stunning.
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.”
Yale men’s basketball overcame a subpar game from its leading scorer on the season, senior forward Nick Townsend, and a slow first-half start to defeat Brown 70-53 in Providence Monday night.
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.”
Brown’s Nana Owusu-Anane underwent left shoulder surgery this week and the recovery timeline is expected to keep the senior forward out of action through March, according to Bill Koch of the Providence Journal,
“We obviously feel so badly for Nana, and our main focus is getting him the support and treatment that he needs,” Brown head coach Mike Martin said in a statement to the Journal published Friday. “He’s in great hands with the medical team that is in place, and I know that he’ll attack his recovery like he always does and will come back from this better than he was before.”