NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Another big crowd at Lee Amphitheater was treated to another outstanding all-around performance from the Yale men's basketball team. The Bulldogs shot 65 percent from the field and scored 58 second-half points to turn a close game into a 99-68 rout of overmatched Columbia.
It was the sixth straight win for Yale, which moved into a first-place tie with Princeton in the Ivy League.
"We got contributions from everyone," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "The way their defense is set up it gave us opportunities at the rim, especially when our post men rolled to the basket."
The main beneficiaries were
Matt Knowling, EJ Jarvis and
Isaiah Kelly, who combined to score 46 points on 19-of-29 shooting from the field. Knowling shot 9-of-10 and scored 22 points, Jarvis was 7-of-14 and had 17 points and Kelly contributed seven points on 3-of-5 shooting.
In all 13 different Bulldogs scored, and the bench contributed 34 points. Yale had 22 assists on its 38 field goals.
"Everybody had a hand in it," Jones said.
John Poulakidas scored 13 points to join Knowling and Jarvis in double figures.
Bez Mbeng added nine points and six assists,
Yassine Gharram contributed six points and a highlight-reel assist on a Knowling breakaway dunk.
Michael Feinberg, August Mahoney and
Jack Molloy each added four points.
Yale (17-6, 7-3 Ivy) had only a 41-36 halftime lead but used a quick 7-1 run to take control. By midway through the second half, the advantage had grown to 17, and the Lions never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.
Geronimo Rubio De La Rosa scored 19 points to pace Columbia.
The victory avenged a 62-60 loss to the Lions in the Ivy League opener back on Dec. 31. More importantly, though, it keeps the Bulldogs well-positioned for a spot in the four-team Ivy League Tournament in March. Presently, the top six teams are separated by just two games.
"We certainly wanted to avenge the loss, but at the same time, it's a game that we had to win," Jones said.
The Bulldogs are back on the road next weekend, traveling to Penn and Princeton. Friday's 7 p.m. game against the Quakers will be nationally televised on ESPNews.
