Men’s basketball bench players add depth, contribute to wins

This past weekend was much of the same for the men’s basketball team. Each of its two matchups were decided by five points or fewer, and the Lions (13-9, 2-4 Ivy) won the first but lost the second. Juniors Brian Barbour and Mark Cisco were the top two scorers for Columbia at both Dartmouth and Harvard. There was one difference, though: Barbour, Cisco, and the Light Blue’s three other starters had plenty of help from the bench.

In the first three games of Ivy play, Columbia’s bench scored only 19 of the team’s 183 points, or an average of 6.3 points per game. In its last three games, the Lions’ bench has scored 55 of the team’s 176 points for an average of 18.3 points per game.

One of the biggest contributors to this shift is sophomore guard Van Green. Green saw significant action for the first time in Columbia’s game at Cornell two weeks ago. While he only had one point in 16 minutes of play, he also pulled down four rebounds and had four steals. His real breakout game came this past weekend, when he had a career-high 10 points in the Light Blue’s win over Dartmouth.

“Van Green’s a guy that’s been coming on in practice, and I think on our perimeter we need some kind of quickness—someone who can get to the basket besides Brian,” head coach Kyle Smith
said on Tuesday. “So we need that and that’s helpful. Hopefully he’ll sustain that success.”

Green had five points, four rebounds, and two assists the next night in Columbia’s close 57-52 loss to Harvard. After the game, Barbour—the Light Blue’s leading scorer—said that it takes some of the pressure off of him when players like Green, junior guard Dean Kowalski, and senior guards Steve Egee and Chris Crockett are playing well.

“All those guys, when they rotate in, they bring something to the table and it’s good to have them out there,” Barbour said. “I know they’re going to make the right plays. Van did a great job tonight and he’s going to keep coming. I know he’s going to help us out a lot this year.”

Barbour is not the only player who benefits from having some help on the perimeter. Sophomore guard Meiko Lyles plays better when he is not one of the top defensive targets of the other team. Last season, Barbour and currently injured senior guard Noruwa Agho were the top two concerns on the perimeter, which allowed Lyles to emerge.

“Meiko is the best when he is the fourth or fifth option,” Smith said. He explained that having someone else on the perimeter who could shoot, like Green, would help Lyles out significantly.

The Lions have found depth inside, too. Against the Crimson, senior forward Blaise Staab led all players with seven rebounds. He also put up six points in the losing effort.

“When he’s getting his hands on balls—steals, deflections—he helps us out a lot,” Smith said. “Hopefully we get more of that.”

Having some extra help inside was especially important this past weekend, as freshman forward Alex Rosenberg fouled out in both games and Cisco had to sit out more than usual because of foul trouble.

Coming into this weekend’s matchups against Brown and Yale, the bench will continue to play a crucial role. According to Smith, the Bears are strong on the perimeter and they can shoot the ball well, meaning that players like Green, Kowalski, and Egee should see some time on Friday. Yale will be more or less the exact opposite, giving players like Staab and freshman Cory Osetkowski a chance to help out.

“We’ve got to play our depth,” Smith said. “We’ll definitely need a lot of perimeter depth, I imagine, in the first game and more inside depth on the second game.”