Box Score Atkinson Posts Double-Double For Yale
Yale's defense held Penn nearly 20 points below its season average on Saturday. The Quakers, though, played some pretty stingy defense themselves. The result was a 59-50 Penn victory at The Palestra.
The Bulldogs, who entered the night leading the Ivy League in field goal percentage, were limited to 34 percent from the field.
"We were impatient offensively," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We didn't run our motion well and took some ill-advised shots that didn't go in."
First year Paul Atkinson paced the Bulldogs with 20 points and 13 rebounds, the second double-double of his young career.
"Paul did a great job on the glass and did a great job scoring the ball," Jones said. "All year long he's shot the ball really well from the floor."
Atkinson was the only Bulldog to score in double figures. Alex Copeland finished with eight points, while Trey Phills and Blake Reynolds scored seven, and Miye Oni had six.
Caleb Wood scored 14 points off the bench to pace the Quakers (15-6, 5-0 Ivy). Antonio Woods had 13 and Ryan Betley added 12.
Yale trailed by six, 31-25, at halftime, and fell behind by 11 early in the second half before making a run. Phills' layup cut the deficit to three, 43-40, with 11 minutes remaining, but Penn's Jake Silpe answered with back-to-back three-pointers to push lead back to nine.
Silpe had made only two three-pointers all season entering the game.
The Bulldogs made one more run, closing to within 55-50, on an Azar Swain steal and layup with 1:03 left, but Penn made its free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Yale had won five straight games over the Quakers at The Palestra entering the night.
The Bulldogs (9-13, 2-4 Ivy) were coming off a heartbreaking overtime loss to defending Ivy champion Princeton on Friday.
"We are close to being very good, and we have an opportunity to be successful down the road," Jones said. "We just have to clean up a few things and play a little smarter."
NOTES: After the first month of Ivy play, it's clear that every league game is going to be a dog fight. That is evident by looking at the scores of the games this weekend. On Friday, Princeton and Yale and Penn and Brown both played overtime games. Cornell edged Dartmouth by one point and Columbia knocked off Harvard by six. On Saturday, Brown beat Princeton 102-100 in overtime, Columbia edged Dartmouth by three and Harvard topped Cornell by three… The Bulldogs hope this is the first of at least two games at the Palestra this season. The Ivy League Tournament is set for Mar. 10-11 in the historic arena… The Quakers are off to a 5-0 start in Ivy play but all five of their games have been at home… The Bulldogs return to the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater next weekend, hosting Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. Both games are 7 p.m. starts.
Report filed by Tim Bennett (timothy.bennett@yale.edu), Yale Sports Publicity
