BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Yale executed near flawlessly down the stretch to earn a hard-fought road win at Lehigh. The Bulldogs outscored the Mountain Hawks 12-2 over the final three minutes to pull away and win 78-65 at Stabler Arena.
The victory extended Yale's winning streak to five. The Bulldogs are 8-3 overall.
After Lehigh closed to within 66-63 with 3:18 remaining, Yale scored the next 11 points. The Bulldogs made three straight field goals, hit five free throws, forced a turnover and had a blocked shot during the decisive run.
"Our guys did a really good job of taking care of the ball. That was important," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We turned them over a few times, and our defense tightened up because it wasn't good at all in the second half."
Azar Swain scored 19 points to lead three players in double figures.
Paul Atkinson added 16 points and 11 rebounds and
Jordan Bruner had 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Yale also got big contributions from
Jalen Gabbidon (nine points),
Eric Monroe (career-high nine assists) and
Jameel Alausa (seven points).
"Jalen was great. He hit some big shots as was Jameel off the bench. Those guys were key," Jones said. "Our big three – Jordan, Paul and Azar – they were dominant again, and Eric did a great job having nine assists and only one turnover."
Lehigh got off to a quick start and had a 10-2 lead after three minutes. The Bulldogs then dominated the rest of the half, outscoring the Mountain Hawks 39-22 to take a 41-32 lead at the break.
Lehigh then slowly chipped away at the lead in the second half before Yale regained control in the final minutes.
The Mountain Hawks shot 49.9 percent from the field, the best of any of Yale opponent this season. The Bulldogs entered the game sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense.
"Give Lehigh credit. Their offense was running smoothly, and they got a chance to score baskets easily in the second half," Jones said.
The Bulldogs also shot well, connecting on 50.9 percent of their shots from the field. They also had assists on 21 of their 28 field goals.
Yale has now won five straight games over Lehigh, including its last three at Stabler Arena.
The Bulldogs are back on the road on Wednesday when they play at UMass. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
