HANOVER, N.H. – Yale continues to find success away from the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater.
Azar Swain scored 21 points, and
Isaiah Kelly added 12 points and six rebounds as the Bulldogs moved a half-game ahead of Princeton and into sole possession of first place with a hard-fought 66-61 win over Dartmouth at Leede Arena.
It was the fourth straight Ivy road win for Yale, which improved to 10-2 in league play.
"This is a tough place to play, and we were fortunate to get out with a win," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs.
It was a milestone victory for Jones, the 190th Ivy League win of his career, which ties him with former Penn coach Fran Dunphy for the second most in league history.
It didn't come easily. Yale (16-10 overall) led for nearly 38 minutes but never could put away the pesky Big Green.
The Bulldogs held Dartmouth to 42 percent shooting in the first half in building a 36-27 lead after 20 minutes.
The Big Green made a couple of runs in the second half, but Yale had an answer every time.
Dartmouth's final push came when Aaryn Rai's layup cut the deficit to three, 64-61, with 20 seconds remaining. Swain, the Ivy League's leading free throw shooter, made four in the final 19 seconds to seal the victory.
Yale again had a number of contributors.
EJ Jarvis scored nine points,
Bez Mbeng added eight points and three steals and
August Mahoney scored eight points, including hitting two big free throws down the stretch.
Matthue Cotton had a team-high seven rebounds.
Rai paced the Big Green with 19 points.
"Our defensive effort in the first half was excellent," Jones said. "We weren't as good in the second half, but it was a gritty effort, and we found a way to win."
The Bulldogs have now reached at least 10 Ivy wins in each of the last three seasons.
Next up for Yale is a trip to Cornell on Saturday. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
