Halftime Report

Only one more half stands between Columbia and the win they were favored to collect coming into this afternoon. They have jumped out to a quick 43-36 lead against Mercyhurst.

Columbia entered the match having won four straight and they're just one half away from another. Will they make it five, or will Mercyhurst step up and spoil it? We'll know soon.

Who's Playing

Mercyhurst Lakers @ Columbia Lions

Current Records: Mercyhurst 3-1, Columbia 4-0

How To Watch

What to Know

The Mercyhurst Lakers are taking a road trip to face off against the Columbia Lions at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday at Francis S. Levien Gymnasium. Both teams are coming into the match red-hot, with the Lakers sitting on three straight victories and the Lions on four.

Mercyhurst is headed into this one after the oddsmakers set last week's over/under low at 140, but even that wound up being too high. They came out on top against Canisius by a score of 62-52 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Columbia skirted by Lehigh 76-75 on Tuesday thanks to a clutch free throw from Avery Brown with but a second left in the second quarter.

Columbia can attribute much of their success to Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa, who scored 24 points in addition to eight rebounds and three steals. The dominant performance also gave Rubio De La Rosa a new career-high in offensive rebounds (three). Blair Thompson was another key player, earning 11 points plus seven rebounds.

Columbia smashed the offensive glass and finished the game with 16 offensive rebounds. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Lehigh only pulled down four.

Mercyhurst's win bumped their record up to 3-1. As for Columbia, their victory bumped their record up to 4-0.

Mercyhurst is hoping to beat the odds on Saturday, as the experts think they're headed for a loss. For those looking to play the spread, take note: they are a solid 3-0 against the spread when playing as the underdog.

Odds

Columbia is a big 11.5-point favorite against Mercyhurst, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Lions as a 12-point favorite.


The over/under is 146.5 points.

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