Columbia pulls away from LIU in 2nd half
Ben Nwachukwu tied a career high with 19 points and John Baumann added 18 and 13 boards as Columbia beat host Long Island in the Blackbirds' season-opener last night, 80-63, in New York.
The Lions (3-0) only had a four-point lead at halftime after an opening frame that featured 10 ties and six lead changes.
At the start of the second half, Columbia jumped out to a 39-30 lead, but the Blackbirds (0-1) closed to 41-38 after a three-pointer from sophomore Randy Jones.
But the Lions responded with a 21-10 run to extend their lead and put the game away.
LIU was held to just 31.7 percent shooting from the field, while Columbia went 28-for-45 for a 62.2 percent clip.
Jones and junior James Williams led the Blackbirds with 13 points each.
Sophomore Justin Armstrong chipped in with 13 off the bench for the Lions.
Columbia goes further east on Saturday as they travel to Stony Brook.
-- Josh Hirsch
Harvard rallies late and beats Holy Cross
Junior guard Jim Goffredo scored 17 points and Harvard erased a second-half deficit to beat Holy Cross 70-55 last night in Worcester, Mass.
The Crimson ended the game on a 37-13 run to overtake Holy Cross after trailing by as many as nine. Harvard went into halftime up one and used a 46-point second to hand the Crusaders their first loss of the season. Harvard is now 2-0 on the season.
All five Harvard starters scored in double figures as the Crimson shot 53.2 percent on the game. However, Harvard only got seven points from its bench.
The game featured 18 lead changes, including 14 in the second half. With 10:30 left in the second half, Harvard trailed by nine after Holy Cross went on an 16-4 rally, to take the first lead of the game larger than three points.
Senior Michael Beal led the Crimson with 10 rebounds. The Crimson enjoyed a rebounding advantage of four as senior forward Matt Stehle contributed nine boards.
--Matt Meltzer Johns and San Doval earn first-team nods
Senior defensive back Michael Johns and senior linebacker Ric San Doval were named to the All-Ivy first team yesterday.
They led a list of 13 Penn football players who made All-Ivy teams.
Offensive lineman Marko Grzan, defensive linemen Naheem Harris and Jim Malizia, running back Joe Sandberg and punter Anthony Melillo made the second team.
Tight end Chris Mizell, offensive linemen Don Snyder and Sean Estrada, defensive lineman Brian Fairbanks, linebacker Kory Gedin and defensive back Scotty Williams received honorable mentions.
Brown senior running back Nick Hartigan took home Ivy Player of the Year honors in a unanimous selection by the League's eight coaches.
Yale running back Mike McLeod was named the Rookie of the Year.
-- Josh Hirsch Field Hockey's Salese named All-American
Senior Lea Salese finished her exceptional Penn career with a selection to the All-America second team.
The midfielder scored eight goals and added three assists this season and was named to the All-Region first team earlier in the month.
Princeton's Paige Schmidt, a third-team selection, was the only other Ivy Leaguer to be named to an all-American team.
-- J.H.
