No. 14 Seed Yale Edged By No. 3 Seed LSU

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Yale's magical season that included Ivy League regular season and tournament titles came to an end on Thursday. But not without a serious fight. The Bulldogs nearly pulled off one of the biggest comebacks in NCAA Tournament history before dropping a hard-fought 79-75 decision to LSU before a big crowd at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

No. 14 seed Yale trailed the third-seeded Tigers 9-0 after three minutes but outscored them 75-70 the rest of the way, including 45-34 in the second half.

"I am very proud of our young men," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "I told them so in the locker room. It's been a great season for Yale Basketball, and as I said, I couldn't be prouder of my group."

Yale ends the year with a 22-8 overall record and has now won at least 20 games in three of the last five years. Along the way, the Bulldogs knocked off California and Miami, both power conference schools, and captured the Ivy League Tournament title on its home floor, knocking off Harvard in the championship game last Sunday.

Yale trailed by 18, 49-31, early in the second half before the momentum started to switch. The Bulldogs slowly chipped away at the lead, closing to within nine with 12 minutes left and seven with eight minutes remaining.

Yale got as close as three when Jordan Bruner hit a three-pointer in the final minute, but LSU made its free throws down the stretch to hold on.

"I'm so proud of this group and just the fight we showed," said Alex Copeland, who paced the Bulldogs with 24 points. "We were in the locker room at halftime, and I think we were a little down for a moment, but we all came together and told each other we can do this. We can fight back. To come out and battle back like that and put on a show for our fans that were here and that were watching across the country feels amazing. I think it's just a testament to the guys we have in this locker room."

Bruner (16 points, nine rebounds) and Azar Swain (12 points) joined Copeland in double figures. Paul Atkinson scored nine points, Miye Oni scored five and Blake Reynolds and Trey Phills each contributed four.

Skyar Mars led LSU, the regular season Southeastern Conference champions, with 19 points, while New Haven, Conn., native Tremont native added 15 points and seven assists.

The Tigers, one of the top rebounding teams in the nation, finished with a 46-38 edge on the boards.

"We knew they were going to be relentless on the glass, and they were," said Reynolds. "I think we did a fairly good job of battling them on the boards."

The game marks the end of the careers of Yale's four seniors – Copeland, Phills, Reynolds and Thomas Ryan. The four were a part of 79 victories over the last four years and helped the Bulldogs make two NCAA Tournament appearances.

"Grateful for the guys in this locker room right now, especially my four seniors," said Bruner. "There will never be another group like this. They were truly special."

Despite their graduation, the future remains bright for the Bulldogs, who will return a number of key components next year.

"This gives us motivation for next year, to come back and be better," Oni said.

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