PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The venue changed, the result was eerily similar. For the second straight week, Yale's defense locked down Brown, leading to another important Ivy League victory.
Paul Atkinson scored 24 points, and
Matthue Cotton added a career-high 20 as the Bulldogs knocked off the Bears 73-62 before a near full house at the Pizzitola Center.
Yale, who beat Brown 70-56 last Friday at Lee Amphitheater, completed a season sweep of the Bears for the sixth time in the last seven years.
Again, it was defense that spearheaded the win. The Bulldogs, who entered the night fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense, limited Brown to 35 percent shooting from the field.
A trip to Washington, D.C. and a win at Howard on Monday may have played a role as well.
"I thought it was good that we played Howard in between to get our minds off Brown," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "There is only so much that you have to do to prepare because you played them the week before. You know all the personnel, you know all the tendencies. You just have to go out and execute, and I thought we played very well tonight."
Yale (14-4, 2-0 Ivy) has won four straight games and 11 of its last 12.
In all, four Bulldogs scored in double figures.
Eric Monroe (10 points) and
Azar Swain (10 points) joined Atkinson and Cotton.
Jordan Bruner added a team-high eight rebounds, while
Wyatt Yess grabbed seven boards in 12 minutes off the bench.
Jalen Gabbidon scored five points and
August Mahoney contributed two.
Yale, which is receiving votes in the national coaches poll, used an 8-3 run over the final five minutes of the first half to take a 33-25 lead after 20 minutes.
The advantage grew to 13 midway through the second half before the Bears made a late push, closing to within six on Brandon Anderson's three-pointer with three minutes left. Swain, though, answered with back-to-back treys to end any hopes of a Brown comeback and quiet the big crowd.
Free throws from Atkinson, Monroe and Gabbidon sealed the victory. The Bulldogs were 17-of-20 from the line in the game.
Cotton, who was 7-of-15 from the field, including 5-of-10 from three-point range, scored 15 of his 20 points in the first half, proving a spark to the Yale offense.
"I try to always be ready," said Cotton, who had 15 points in Monday's win at Howard. "The guys have a lot of faith in me, and that's helped me immensely. My role is to make open threes, play defense and rebound."
Both coaching staffs wore sneakers on the sideline as part of Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week, which raides awareness, helping to save lives by raising funds and encouraging people to educate themselves about cancer prevention, screening, and early detection.
Jones, who admitted to not being comfortable wearing sneakers with his suit, was proud to take part.
"I'll do anything to help in the fight against cancer," he said. "I lost my mom to [cancer] so I'm proud to participate in such a tremendous cause."
The Bulldogs are back in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater next weekend, hosting Columbia on Friday and Cornell on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. on both nights.
