Crushed Dreams: Late Surge Leads to Men’s Basketball’s Narrow 71-67 Defeat at Princeton

PRINCETON, N.J.— The Columbia men’s basketball team held an 18-point advantage at halftime yet succumbed to Princeton, 71-67, on Monday at Jadwin Gymnasium.

The Lions (11-5, 0-3) were outperformed in the second half, 56-34. Princeton (14-4, 3-0) nailed 12 three-pointers in the last 20 minutes to chip away at Columbia’s substantial lead, reducing it to a four-point margin with 3:07 remaining after a Jack Stanton three-pointer.

Trailing 66-65 with less than a minute remaining, Mason Ritter put Columbia back in the lead with a tip-in and-one finish but failed to convert the free throw.

Xaivian Lee then sank the game-winning shot from beyond the arc with 10 seconds left, giving Princeton the advantage again for the fourth lead change in the last two minutes. Blake Peters made two free throws to secure the victory.

Columbia surged ahead with a 14-2 run in the first four minutes of the game, making 5-6 from the field during that stretch. The Lions held a 25-13 lead following a Josiah Cunningham reverse layup with 7:37 remaining in the first half.

Columbia reached its largest edge at 33-13 with 1:59 before halftime after a 10-0 run. Princeton struggled, shooting 6-32 from the field and only 2-19 from beyond the arc during the initial 20 minutes.

Princeton launched a 12-4 run to open the half, yet Columbia managed to maintain a double-digit lead at the first media timeout of the second half, holding a 42-29 advantage with 12:53 left.

Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa led the way for the Lions with 15 points. Blair Thompson contributed 13 points and six rebounds. Avery Brown added 10 points and four assists.

Columbia will visit Penn next Saturday, with tip-off set for 2 p.m. at The Palestra.

Follow The Lions
For the latest updates on Columbia men’s basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on X, Instagram, or on the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.