Yale Stays Tied For First Place

PRINCETON, N.J. – Yale made all the plays down the stretch and got a big game from Justin Sears to complete a perfect weekend.

Sears scored 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Bulldogs to an 81-73 victory over Princeton at Jadwin Gym.

Yale, who led 39-28 at halftime, had to overcome a 21-4 Princeton run to start the second half.

"We knew Princeton would make a run, and we would have to be tough enough to get through it," said James Jones, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball. "After making a couple of plays offensively, we were able to calm ourselves down."

The Bulldogs found themselves trailing by eight, 54-46, midway through the second half but outscored the Tigers 35-19 the rest of the way.

The turning point may have come with Yale down five when Sears blocked a Hans Brase three-point attempt, grabbed the rebound, raced down the floor, scored and was fouled.

"I tried to lag off to give him the illusion he was open," Sears said. "I was fortunate enough to get the block and had a head start going down the floor."

The play began a 13-4 run that gave Yale the lead for good.

Sears finished 8-of-11 from the field, 9-of-11 from the foul line and added two blocks and a steal in 39 minutes.

"Justin was tremendous," Jones said. "He's given us what we've needed most every game. This weekend he really sought out opportunities."

Sears had plenty of support. Matt Townsend was 6-of-8 from the field and finished with 13 points. Javier Duren scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out seven assists. Freshman Makai Mason and Jack Montague each added 11 points, while Greg Kelley scored nine.

Henry Caruso paced Princeton (11-12, 4-3 Ivy) with 25 points, and Steven Cook added 15.

Both teams shot well from the field. Yale was 28-of-48 (58.3 percent), while Princeton was 25-of-48 (52.1 percent).

The Bulldogs, who hammered Penn on Friday, improve to 7-1 in Ivy play and remain tied with Harvard for first place. The Crimson used a big second half to beat Cornell. Yale is 18-7 overall.

"This was a necessary weekend for us," Jones said. "If we want to be special, we have to win these games."

It looked like this one might come easily. The Bulldogs scored the first 11 points of the game and led by as many as 16 in the first half.

Yale has now swept the Penn-Princeton road trip in two of the last three years.

The Bulldogs return to Lee Amphitheater next weekend, hosting Cornell on Friday and Columbia on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on both nights.

Report filed by Tim Bennett (timothy.bennett@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity