HAMDEN, Conn. – Yale should enter its break for final exams feeling quite good about itself. The Bulldogs used a big second half to rally from behind and defeat Quinnipiac 73-66 before a nice crowd of 1,156 at M&T Bank Arena.
 
Yale, which has won two straight games, handed the Bobcats their first home loss of the season and improved its record to 7-5.
 
TURNING POINT
 
Trailing 42-33 early in the second half, the Bulldogs responded with a 20-4 run, capped by a Matt Knowling three-point play, to take control. Another Knowling bucket had Yale in front 61-50 with six minutes remaining. The Bobcats (7-3) got as close as five in the final minute but never seriously threatened.
 
KEY STATS
 
The Bulldogs used their size advantage to outrebound the Bobcats 35-24 and outscore them 36-18 in the paint.
 
STATISTICAL LEADERS
 
Danny Wolf scored a career-high 22 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures. Wolf was 9-of-15 from the field and 2-of-3 from three-point range. He also grabbed 12 rebounds to post his third double-double of the season. Casey Simmons had his second straight strong game off the bench. He followed up a 12-point effort last Friday against Colby-Sawyer by scoring 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Simmons also grabbed five rebounds, including three on the offensive end, in 19 efficient minutes. John Poulakidas added 12 points and Knowling finished with 10. Bez Mbeng contributed six points and five assists, and August Mahoney had eight points.
 
Quinnipiac was led by Matt Balanc, who scored 25 points.
 
QUOTING JONES
 
"We were able to fight through some adversity," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We haven't done a lot of that, so hopefully we can build on it. I thought we did a great job in the second half of guarding them and being tough and did a better job of getting to our spots on offense."
 
NOTES
 
• Despite being only 10 miles apart, the two teams were playing for the first time since the opening game of the 2014-15 season. They are scheduled to meet again next year at Lee Amphitheater.
 
• Yale shot nearly 54 percent from the field in the second half in outscoring the Bobcats 44-31.
 
• The Bulldogs have now won 15 of their last 16 games against in-state opponents.
 
• This was the first of five straight road games for Yale, which won't play at Lee Amphitheater again until Jan. 15 vs. Columbia.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Bulldogs are off until Dec. 22 when they play at Kansas. Tipoff at Allen Fieldhouse is slated for 8 p.m. EST.