Yale at Lehigh
Saturday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m.
Bethlehem, Pa.
Patriot League Network | Live Stats
Yale Game Notes
 
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Bulldogs will look to complete another perfect week when they travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to face Lehigh on Saturday. Tipoff at Stabler Arena is slated for 7 p.m. The Patriot League Network has the video.
 
Yale (7-3) has won four straight games and is coming off a 61-52 victory at Albany on Wednesday. Jordan Bruner paced the Bulldogs with 17 points. He was 6-of-11 from the field, including 5-of-7 from three-point range. Bruner has scored in double figures in four straight games, including back-to-back 17-point efforts. In addition, he leads the Ivy League in rebounding (9.0 rpg.) and blocked shots (25).
 
Paul Atkinson, who was named the Ivy League Player of the Week on Monday, continued his hot shooting, going 6-of-7 en route to scoring 14 points in the win over the Great Danes. Atkinson, who leads the team in scoring (17.2 ppg.), is the top shooter in the Ivy League at .653. Over the last three games, he is 22-of-26 from the field. Atkinson has scored in double figures in all 10 games this season, including three 20+ scoring games.
 
Point guard Eric Monroe facilitated the offense with five assists and only one turnover in 31 efficient minutes. Monroe leads the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.5) and is third in assists (4.7 per game).
 
Yale's calling card this season has been defense, and the Bulldogs again excelled against Albany. The Great Danes scored only 23 points and shot 30.8 percent from the field in the second half.
 
The Bulldogs have been among the nation's top defensive teams all season. They currently sit sixth in field goal percentage defense (.347), sixth in defensive rebounds per game (32.30), seventh in total rebounds (403) and 13th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.259).
 
Yale has won five of its last six games. The only blemish was a two-point loss at Penn State in a game the Bulldogs led for nearly 38 minutes.
 
Yale's three losses (San Francisco, Oklahoma State, Penn State) have come by a combined 14 points to teams that currently have a combined 22-4 overall record.
 
The Bulldogs, the defending Ivy League champions, have played only three times in the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater. They have traveled to five different states for their seven games away from home. Yale doesn't play at home again until Jan. 12.
 
HISTORY LESSONS
 
Yale has won the last four meetings with Lehigh and leads the all-time series 11-8. Lehigh is the second Patriot League opponent for the Bulldogs, who beat Bucknell 81-61 on Nov. 26 in the NIT Season Tip-off. Last year at Lee Amphitheater, six Bulldogs scored in double figures in a 97-87 win over Lehigh. Two of those double figure scorers return this year – Jordan Bruner (13 points, 8 rebounds) and Azar Swain (10 points). Yale and Lehigh have played every year since 2015. The first meeting came in 1904.
 
SCOUTING LEHIGH
 
Yale is the second Ivy League opponent for the Mountain Hawks, who dropped a hard-fought 68-64 decision at Columbia on Nov. 30. Lehigh (3-6 overall) is 2-1 in Stabler Arena. Jordan Cohen (14.1 ppg.) leads the team in scoring. James Karnik is averaging 12.2 points and 8.3 rebounds. Brett Reed is in his 13th season as the head coach of the Mountain Hawks and is the winningest coach in school history.