HONOLULU, Hawaii – It was a memorable trip to paradise for the Yale men's basketball team.
Matt Knowling scored 18 points, and the Bulldogs defense locked down Hawaii to earn a thrilling 62-59 overtime victory over the Rainbow Warriors in the championship game of the Rainbow Classic at SimpliFi Arena.
Yale limited Hawaii to 32.8 percent (22-of-67) shooting from the field.
"It was a gutsy win," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Our defense was connected, and we did just enough on offense for the win."
Knowling, who averaged 21.3 points in the three games, was named the tournament most valuable player. He had plenty of support. In the win over Hawaii,
August Mahoney added 14 points, including hitting six clutch free throws in the final minutes of regulation and overtime.
Isaiah Kelly had 10 points and seven rebounds, and
EJ Jarvis contributed 10 points and four blocked shots, including one at the end of regulation that forced overtime.
The score was tied at 51 after 40 minutes. A
John Poulakidas three-pointer gave Yale a 56-51 lead with 3:42 left. Hawaii, though, answered with five straight points to tie. Kelly then gave the Bulldogs the lead for a good with a breakaway dunk off an assist from
Yassine Gharram with 54 seconds left.
After a Hawaii miss, Mahoney made two free throws to put Yale ahead by four.
Kamaka Hepa's three-pointer pulled the Rainbow Warriors within one, but Mahoney made two more free throws with 13 seconds left.
Hawaii had two well-contested three-point attempts that missed in the final seconds.
The Bulldogs, who beat Eastern Washington and Mississippi Valley State earlier in the tournament, are 4-0 on the season.
The Rainbow Classic title is the second in school history for Yale. The Bulldogs won the 1969 event, defeating Hawaii and San Francisco in the first two games before earning a memorable 97-94 victory over LSU in the championship game. Jim Morgan '71 scored 35 points for Yale in the title game, outdueling LSU's Pete Maravich, who scored 34.
Next up for the Bulldogs is a game on Sunday at home against John Jay. Tipoff at the John J. Lee Amphitheater is slated for 2 p.m.
