Lions still without a road win

In a game featuring 16 lead changes and seven ties, the Columbia men’s basketball team battled neck-and-neck with Longwood for one half of play at Willett Hall in Farmville, Va. on Saturday, but the Lancers pulled away down the stretch for a 95-76 victory. The Lions trailed by just one at halftime but were outscored 61-43 in the final 20 minutes, dropping their record to 1-3 overall.

Poor shooting accuracy was largely responsible for Columbia’s downfall. The Light Blue shot just 13-22 from the charity stripe, and 5-18 from behind the arc. Overall, the Lancers shot 57.6 percent from the field after halftime while the Lions shot 40.5 percent.

Longwood (2-2) opened up a 22-14 lead after 11 minutes of play, but the Lions responded with a 7-0 run keyed by a three-pointer by freshman guard Dyami Starks. Junior guard Noruwa Agho’s jumper with 1:59 remaining in the half put Columbia up by three. That would be the team’s biggest lead of the night.

Action remained tight for the first seven minutes of the second half, but Longwood put together two 10-0 runs four minutes apart to blow the game open and take a 75-56 lead with 5:30 remaining on the clock. Junior forward Jan van der Kooij had two back-breaking three pointers during Longwood’s surge, while sharpshooting junior guard Martiz Washington also hit a three, and senior guard Aaron Mitchell recorded a three-point play. With four-and-a-half minutes remaining, Columbia was down by 19 and would not threaten again.

Junior guard Jeremiah Bowman led the way for Longwood, scoring 22 points on 7-11 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. He also played a game-high 35 minutes. Mitchell had a big game for the Lancers as well, notching 16 points and dishing seven helpers. Of Longwood’s bench players, only Washington played for a significant time. He went 6-8 from downtown for the Lancers, and finished with 21 points.

Agho went 7-17 from the field for the Lions, finishing with 19 points. Freshman guard Steve Frankoski put up 14 points, and sophomore point guard Brian Barbour had 11 to go along with five assists.

With the defeat, Columbia falls to 0-3 outside the confines of Levien Gymnasium. The Lions recorded a blowout victory in their only home game to date.

The Light Blue resumes its early season schedule on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when it hosts Colgate just before an abbreviated Thanksgiving break. The Lions will be back in action on Sunday, Nov. 28, when they travel to Washington, D.C. to take on American.