Columbia vs. Harvard was never about last place taking on first place.
It was the potential against the potent, a team with questions battling a team that makes statements, the consistently disappointed facing the consistent.
The Lions, once thought to be a sleeper in the Ivy League, looked like the best team in the conference for at least one day, ending a four-game slide and riding Steve Frankoski’s career-high 27 points to hand Harvard its first league loss, 78-63, yesterday at Levien Gymnasium.
Columbia coach Kyle Smith had been waiting for a game this complete. He just didn’t know when, or if, he would see it.
“Any coach that says they know, I think they’re lying,” Smith said after Columbia’s first win over Harvard in nearly four years. “They stayed with it. They never got down. We’ve had some tough, tough breaks. Eventually they got it done on their own. It was a great win for us. … I’d really be nitpicking if there was anything to be disappointed from that game.”
Harvard (13-7, 5-1), the league’s highest-scoring team, entered the game on a four-game winning streak, but the Lions (10-10, 2-4) embraced the faster pace and put up their highest point total of the season, shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including 9-of-17 on 3-pointers.
The game, postponed from Saturday night due to the snowstorm, featured a back-and-forth first half in which Frankoski scored 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting, including 4-of-4 on 3-pointers. That gave Columbia a 38-34 halftime lead, though leading scorer Brian Barbour was held scoreless in the frame.
“It’s definitely nice when your first shot goes in, you get in a good rhythm and your confidence goes up,” said Frankoski, who had scored 16 points total in the previous four games. “Once you get in a little zone, you’re not thinking that much and you’re playing in the flow of the game.”
The Crimson put the clamps on the junior guard in the second half, limiting him to four shots, but the Lions received unexpected contributions from Maodo Lo, who scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and center Cory Osetkowski, who had 10 points, nine rebounds and two blocks to help the Lions to an 11-rebound advantage.
Though sophomore swingman Wesley Saunders was a nightmare matchup, leading Harvard with 27 points on 8-of-11 shooting, the Crimson couldn’t cut much into a lead that ballooned to as large as 20 with the rest of the team shooting 10-of-31 (32.3 percent) from the field.
“We needed a win no matter what, had to lay it all on the line,” Osetkowski said. “Coach is always telling me you can go wherever you want, the sky’s the limit. With the coaches, my teammates behind me, anything’s possible.”
Potential can be achieved. Seasons can be saved.