PRINCETON, N.J. – Yale quest to return to the NCAA Tournament came up just short. Tosan Evboumwan scored 21 points as Princeton earned the Ivy League's automatic bid to March Madness, edging the Bulldogs 74-65 in the league's tournament championship game before 3,607 at Jadwin Gym, the Tigers home court.
 
Bez Mbeng scored 18 points to pace the Bulldogs, who were playing in the title game for the third straight time. Matt Knowling added 14 points and August Mahoney scored 13.
 
Mahoney, who had 18 points in the semifinal victory over Cornell, was named to the all-tournament team.
 
Yale's season is not over. By virtue of earning the No. 1 seed in the league tournament, the Bulldogs are assured of a spot in the NIT. The 32-team field will be announced later on Sunday.
 
Yale fell behind 12-0 but scored the next 11 points to get right back in the game. Princeton's lead was 33-29 at halftime, and the Tigers extended it to 11 midway through the second half. The Bulldogs, though, rallied again and were within three, 59-56, when Mbeng nailed a three with 3:28 remaining.
 
Princeton, though, made 13 free throws in the final three minutes to seal the victory.
 
"Our team got off to a slow start, and the energy and effort it took to climb back in the game took its toll on us," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "I'm extremely proud of this group. We've had a great season thus far."
 
Yale sits at 21-8 heading into the NIT. The Bulldogs have posted 20 or more victories in three of the last four seasons.
 
The loss was the Bulldogs' second in the tournament championship game. They fell to Princeton in the first Ivy Madness title game in 2017. Yale won the league tournament in 2022 and 2019.
 
With four of their top five scorers returning, the Bulldogs should certainly be in the hunt again next year.
 
"We're going to take this feeling to heart and bottle it up." said Mahoney, a junior. "I promise you we will be back."