CIT Game of the Day – March 18

COLUMBIA AT VALPARAISO, 7:00 PM Eastern, Live streaming at watchcollegeinsider.com

The 1968 NCAA Tournament East Region Semifinals.  The Davidson Wildcats defeated the Columbia Lions 61-59 in overtime. 46 years ago.  46 years between that game and today — and 46 years since Columbia last played a postseason Division I Men’s Basketball game.  That streak ends tonight.

Columbia went 19-12 this season, posting an 8-6 record in the Ivy, good enough to tie Princeton for third place.  Their season included wins over Stony Brook and American, a one point loss to Manhattan, and a loss early in the year at Michigan State in a game they had a halftime lead.  This has clearly been one of the best seasons for the Lions in recent years, and the reward of a chance to play in the CIT has broken one of the longest postseason drought streaks in the NCAA (in fact, only conference-mate Dartmouth has a longer such streak).

Columbia’s opponent tonight is the Horizon League’s Valparaiso Crusaders.  Valpo was 18-15 this season, 9-7 in the Horizon which got them a fourth place finish.  Their season included at 75-60 home win over Green Bay, and given how close the Phoenix ended up being to receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, that game may have been the one that knocked them out.  This is the Crusaders’ second appearance in the CIT — in 2011 they suffered a first round loss.  They will try to improve on that tonight.

Tonight’s other CIT action is as follows:

VMI at Canisius, 7:00 PM
Wright State at East Carolina, 7:00 PM
Norfolk State at Eastern Michigan, 7:00 PM
Chattanooga at East Tennessee State, 7:00 PM
Alabama State at Sam Houston State, 8:00 PM
Portland State at San Diego, 10:00 PM

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