It didn't come as easily as Saturday's victory over Cornell, but it was just as impressive.
Azar Swain scored 22 points,
Jalen Gabbidon added 13 and
Matt Knowling grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds as Yale improved to 2-0 in Ivy League play with a gritty 66-63 victory over Brown at the Pizzitola Center.
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After having the start of the league schedule delayed by two weeks and playing only one game in a month, the Bulldogs won twice in three days to begin defense of their back-to-back Ivy titles.
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Defense played a big role in the victory. Yale limited the Bears to 36.4 percent shooting, and Brown was just 4-of-17 from three-point range.
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James Jones, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs, is pleased with the growth he has seen from his team
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"We're starting to look for each other more, feel more comfortable with each other and believe in each other," Jones said.
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A number of Bulldogs contributed to the victory. In addition to his 10 rebounds, Knowling scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Bez Mbeng also scored eight points and added four rebounds to go along with a strong defensive effort.
EJ Jarvis had six points.
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Yale (8-8 overall) led 18-10 after six minutes and was in front 35-32 at halftime.
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"I thought our guys came out with really good energy," Jones said.
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The Bulldogs started the second half with good energy as well, using a 13-7 run over the first five minutes to build the advantage to 48-39. The lead grew to 14 before Brown rallied. Tamenang Choh's jumper in the lane pulled the Bears within one, 62-61, with 32 seconds. Jarvis then made the biggest play of the game, a putback that pushed the lead back to three.
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Kino Lilly Jr missed a jumper on Brown's ensuing possession, and Knowling sealed the victory with a free throw with 12 seconds left.
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The Bulldogs have now started Ivy play with two wins in five of the last seven seasons.
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Next up is a trip to Penn on Saturday. Tipoff at The Palestra is slated for 4 p.m.
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