All Five Starters Score In Double Figures

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It sure wasn't as easy is it looked like it might be early, but Yale is off and running in Ivy League play. The Bulldogs built a quick 17-point lead and then had to hold off a number of Brown comebacks en route to a 77-68 victory over the pesky Bears in the Ivy opener for both teams at the John J. Lee Amphitheater.

Yale, which entered the game with a 27.6-point margin of victory in its five home wins, had a 27-10 lead 11 minutes in, and it looked like it might be another cakewalk. That didn't turn out to be the case. Brown was within six, 37-31, by halftime, and stayed within striking distance in the entire second half.

The Bears never got closer than five over the final 20 minutes, but there were still some anxious moments for the Youth Day crowd of 1,878, especially when reigning Ivy League Player of the Year Justin Sears picked up his fifth foul with 4:20 left, and the Bulldogs up eight.

Makai Mason, though, made six free throws over the final three minutes to help seal it.

"It was nice to be able to play well enough down the stretch to get the win," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs.

All five starters finished in double figures for the Bulldogs, led by Mason who scored 20 points. Brandon Sherrod (13 points, 10 rebounds) and Nick Victor (15 points, 11 rebounds) both posted double-doubles. Sears had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Jack Montague added 11 points.

Anthony Dallier made a strong contribution off the bench, scoring six points and grabbing five rebounds in 23 minutes.

Cedric Kuakumensah paced the Bears with 18 points and 12 rebounds. Tavon Blackmon added 17 points and JR Hobbie had 15 points.

After withstanding a couple of Brown runs early in the second half, the Bulldogs (10-5, 1-0 Ivy) seemed to be in control when a Victor layup gave them a 65-52 lead with six minutes left. The Bears, though, scored the next six points, had the lead down to six and had Sears on bench after fouling out.

That's when Yale got more aggressive going to the basket and drawing fouls.

"Justin is a great leader, but we just had to band together," Victor said. "We just tried to get to the free throw line. We knew if we made our free throws, we would be okay."

Victor was 4-of-4 from line, and the Bulldogs scored their final 12 points from the free throw line.

In addition to his 15 points and 11 rebounds, Victor contributed four assists, four blocks and two steals in 36 minutes.

"He's developed a great deal," Jones said of Victor. "He made a huge contribution."

Yale also did the job on the defensive end down the stretch. Brown missed four of its five shots from the field in the final minute.

"Our defense was stellar the entire game," Jones said.

The Bulldogs held the Bears to 35.1 percent for the game and had a 43-30 edge in rebounding.

Brown (5-10, 0-1 Ivy) stayed in the game by hitting 10-of-25 three-pointers.

After coasting to its nine non-conference wins, it didn't take Yale long to experience the rigors of Ivy play.

"I expect 13 more games just like this one," Jones said.

NOTES: There were 49 fouls called in the game and the teams combined to take 53 free throws… The Bears were 18-of-22 from the foul line, while the Bulldogs were 22-of-31… Yale, which entered the game seventh in offensive rebounds per game, grabbed 16 more offensive boards and converted them into 18 second-chance points… The Bulldogs were 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from three-point range… 2015 Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth, whose younger brother Steven plays for Brown, was spotted in the crowd. Steven had nine points, six rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes… The same two teams play in Providence next Saturday at 5 p.m.

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