On Saturday, the men’s basketball team (10-10, 2-5 Ivy) suffered a gut-wrenching 74-72 loss against Columbia (12-8, 1-6) in New York City. Though the Bears held a double-digit lead with less than seven minutes to go, the game slipped through their fingers in the final moments.
But despite the heartbreaking end, Malcolm Wrisby-Jefferson ’27 delivered a breakout performance, scoring a career-high 16 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
“I was really just taking what the defense gave me and tried to be more aggressive than I have been in the previous games,” Wrisby-Jefferson wrote in an email to The Herald.
The Bears came out of the gates hot, opening the game with an 11-point run that included a jumper and a three-pointer from Kino Lilly Jr. ’25. Not yet on the scoreboard, the Lions began to claw their way back and managed to cut Brown’s lead to just 30-27 four minutes before halftime.
But Wrisby-Jefferson took control and reignited Bruno’s momentum. After scoring a flurry of layups, Wrisby-Jefferson capped off his offensive barrage with an and-one, pushing Brown’s advantage back to 10. Spearheaded by his efforts, the Bears entered halftime with a commanding 42-33 lead.
Coming out of halftime, the Bears continued to fire on all cylinders, keeping the Lions at a safe distance. When Lilly scored back-to-back baskets with just over five minutes remaining in the game — giving Brown a 69-57 lead — the Bears seemed to be in the driver’s seat.
But Columbia refused to give up. Capitalizing on multiple Bruno turnovers, the Lions sliced the Bears’ seemingly comfortable lead to two points with just 1:39 to play.
With 20 seconds left and a 72-71 score in favor of Brown, Columbia’s Kenny Noland drew a foul. He made the first free throw, but missed the second — only for the Lions to snatch the offensive rebound and extend the possession.
A frantic sequence followed. The Lions heaved up a three that came up too strong, but Columbia’s Blair Thompson dropped a putback layup to give the Lions their first lead of the game.
The Bears had one last chance to steal back the victory, but Lilly’s last-gasp jumper clanged off the rim as time expired. Losing 74-72, the Bears fell to 2-5 in Ivy League play.
For the Bears, the loss was all too familiar. The team has been plagued by late-game troubles this season, squandering second-half leads to Dartmouth — and now Columbia — in the last month.
“We just gotta find a way to close games and keep our foot on the pedal,” Wrisby-Jefferson wrote. “I feel like (this) game we coasted towards the end, which led them to come back.”
“To close out close games, we’ve got to limit our turnovers, and we’ve got to rebound,” he added. “Those two aspects hurt us at the end of the game.”
Despite the bitter defeat, Wrisby-Jefferson was a bright spot, relentlessly attacking the basket as he led the team in scoring for the first time in his career. The sophomore guard added six rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks to his impressive box score.
As he looks to build upon his career-best performance, Wrisby-Jefferson stressed the importance of staying assertive. “I really just have to stay aggressive and look to create for myself as well as others,” he explained.
Landon Lewis ’26, who missed Brown’s previous three games, tallied 14 points and three blocks in his return from injury. Lilly chipped in with 13 points and five assists.
The Bears will look to bounce back with an Ivy League doubleheader this weekend, hosting second-seeded Princeton (16-6, 5-2) on Friday and seventh-place Penn (6-14, 2-5) on Saturday. Last weekend, Bruno held off the Quakers 88-79 before falling 69-49 in a tough road matchup with the Tigers.
“We gotta take it one game at a time,” Wrisby-Jefferson wrote. “Focus on what we have to do for Princeton and then focus on Penn. This is a big weekend for us, but we just gotta take it one game at a time.”
Gus Bailey is a senior staff writer covering the sports beat. He is a sophomore studying applied math-economics. His interests include data analytics, marketing, social media and of course, sports.
