VOL. 23, NO. 16	FEBRUARY 27, 1998

fter an impressive four-game winning streak on the road, the men’s basketball team comes home to what promises to be a rafter-shaking night in Levien Gymnasium when they play Princeton on Friday.

  The excitement has already hit New York City: All reserved and general admission tickets to the public are sold out. But 1,000 tickets will be made available to Columbia and Barnard students one hour before the game’s start time, which is 7:30 P.M. These student tickets will be sold in the gym lobby. One ticket only is available per student, and a student C.U.I.D. will be required.

  Coach Armond Hill’s scrappy squad, now 10–13, began their successful road tour on Feb. 13 in Hanover, N.H., where they defeated Dartmouth’s Big Green, 62–56. Junior forward Justin Namolik led that game for the Lions with 17 points.

  Then it was on to Cambridge, Mass., the next day, where junior captain Gary Raimondo poured in 28 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Harvard. The final score was, 78–66.

  In Providence, R.I., the sweep continued, with the Lions edging Brown, 54–52. Raimondo and Namolik again led the team, with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

  And then, Yale.

  The strong 71-57 victory in New Haven marked the first time since the 1981-82 season that the Columbia men won four straight games on the road. The victory also tied Columbia and Yale for third place in the Ivy League, behind Pennsylvania and Princeton.

  Princeton, which is Coach Hill’s alma mater, is now ranked ninth in the country and has lost only one game this season, to North Carolina, ranked second.

  Columbia, however, is the only Ivy League team that gave the Tigers a run for their money, when the two teams last faced each other on Jan. 31 on Princeton’s home court. At the half, Columbia trailed by only one point, but eventually fell to the Tigers, 58–45.