For the Columbia Lions, Friday's Ivy League opener against the Princeton Tigers is about much more than emerging as the superior feline. The Lions (9-5) now have another chance to prove they belong among the best of the league.
They have been unable to do just that for a long time. Despite varying degrees of success throughout the rest of the season, the Lions have been anything but ferocious when the games matter. Their last winning Ivy season came 14 years ago. Only twice during that span have they finished at .500 in league play.
But this year they have put together a promising campaign without a superstar. Columbia is the only Ivy to not have a single senior on its roster. Instead, the Lions have relied on underclassmen to support their four starting juniors.
6-foot-8 forward John Baumann - who leads Columbia in points and rebounds for the second straight season -and 6-9 center Ben Nwachukwu, both juniors, are the Lions' best players, but they are far from their only weapons.
Eight different Lions have logged at least 15 minutes per game, but none over 27; six players have contributed at least five points per game, but none more than 12.3. Coach Joe Jones said he plans to continue to play at least nine players per game throughout the Ivy schedule.
Said Jones: "There's not a big drop-off in talent from one through 10."
He also added that his team's offensive balance is an asset.
"I think that's a benefit for us," he said. "When you face us, there's really not one or two guys you have to concern yourself with; you have to concern yourself with all five guys on the floor."
As a result, overall offense has not been a problem. The Lions have outscored their opponents by over four points per game - second-best in the Ivies, even more impressive considering they began their season with a 43-point loss to Duke. Their rebounding margin of just under five is nearly twice as good as that of any other Ivy. And with the exception of that Duke loss and an 81-55 pounding by Providence, Columbia has stayed in every single contest, and even handed out several blowout victories of its own.
Despite this success, and despite riding a two-game winning streak into conference play, Jones is still not completely satisfied with his team.
"I like where we are right now, but I think we still have a long way to go," he said. "We have to continue to do a better job of keeping our turnovers down . and continue to get better defensively."
The Lions will face two tough teams in their opening weekend. Following the matchup against Princeton, Columbia will also host Penn, who is favored to win the league.
"We're going to have our hands full in this first weekend," Jones said. "But we'll have a good feel for who we are and where we're going, and that's what we want."
