Columbia Rallies For 65-54 Win Over Brown

Friday, February 5

7 pm

Brown University

Columbia

2/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

New York, New York – Sophomore Noruwa Agho scored 18 points and junior Asenso Ampim scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half, to rally Columbia to a 65-54 win over Brown Friday evening at Levien Gymnasium.

The loss drops the Bears to 7-15 overall, 1-4 in the Ivy League, while Columbia extends its record to 8-12, 2-3 in league play.

The Bears were led by senior Matt Mullery, who netted 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Mullery now has 994 career points and will look to become the 23rd player in Brown basketball history to score 1,000 career points tomorrow evening at Cornell.

Junior Peter Sullivan and his brother, freshman Matt Sullivan, also scored in double figures for Brown with 11 and 10 points respectively.

Trailing 36-27 at the half, Columbia turned up the defensive pressure and came roaring back to take its first lead, 51-49, on a three point play by Asenso Ampim with 4:45 left in the game. The Lions went on to extend their lead to 58-49 on a trey by Brian Grimes with 2:56 left to play, to complete a 15-1 spurt and take control of the game.

After shooting 57 percent from the field (12 of 21) in the first half, Columbia held the Bears to 25-percent shooting in the second half, limiting Brown to just five second half field goals (5 of 20). The Lions also had the best of the Bears on the backbraors, out-rebounding Brown by a 36-29 margin.

It was a different story in the first half as Brown came to play from the outset, knocking down their first three treys and a lay-up by Mullery to build an 11-0 lead over the Lions in the first three minutes.

The Bears kept up the first half pressure and built a 15-point lead, 29-14, following a trey by Matt Sullivan with 8:05 left in the half. With the Bears holding a 36-22 advantage, Columbia scored the last five points of the half to trail, 36-27 at intermission.

Brown connected on 7 of 13 first half treys with juniors Peter Sullivan and Adrian Williams connecting on two treys each. Matt Sullivan led the Bears with nine first half points, while Agho led Columbia with 13 first half points.

Agho added a team high 10 rebounds to go with his 18 points.

The Bears continue their New York swing, traveling to Ithaca, New York tonight to battle #25 Cornell Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.