NEW YORK (AP)—John Baumann and Justin Armstrong each scored 17 points to lead Columbia to a 64-61 victory over New Hampshire in a semifinal game of the Tyler Ugolyn-Columbia tournament on Friday night.
The host Lions advanced to the title game against Troy, which beat Quinnipiac 94-83 in overtime.
Armstrong scored five points in the game’s final 1:14 after the Wildcats, who trailed by as many as 12 in the second half rallied within two at 57-55.
Chris Vetrano hit a 3-pointer to rally New Hampshire to 57-55 with 1:38 left but Armstrong responded with a layup.
Vetrano hit another 3-pointer with 3.7 seconds remaining and, after Dalen Cuff made a free throw, Mike Christensen bounced a potential game-tying 3-pointer off the front of the rim.
New Hampshire scored the game’s first 11 points but the Lions cut the margin to 26-25 at halftime as Baumann scored 11 points.
Columbia took its first lead, 33-32, on Baumann’s drive at 15:49 of the second half and expanded the margin to eight, 47-39, when Dalen Cuff hit a pair of 3-pointers midway through the half.
Vetrano led the Wildcats with 14 points while Christensen and Brandon Odom had 11 each.
Freshman guard K.J. Matsui, the first Japanese native to play for an NCAA Division I team, started for Columbia but failed to score in 18 minutes.
