NEW HAVEN, Conn. – There was plenty of hype leading up to Saturday's battle of Ivy League unbeatens at Lee Amphitheater. The game certainly didn't disappoint.
Matt Knowling's conventional three-point play with 3.2 seconds left lifted Yale to a thrilling 80-78 victory over Cornell before another sellout crowd.
The Bulldogs (16-6) are now 7-0 in Ivy play and have won nine straight games overall.
The Big Red (17-4, 6-1 Ivy) suffered its first league loss and saw its seven-game winning streak end.
COME-FROM-BEHIND VICTORY
Yale found itself trailing by 15 late in the first half, and it was an uphill climb for the rest of the way. The Bulldogs, though, came all the way back and tied the score at 71 with 3:51 remaining and took their first lead of the second half, 74-73, on a
John Poulakidas three-pointer with 2:52 left. Cornell regained the lead in the final minute when Chris Manon hit a step-back jumper with 28 seconds left, but that just set up Knowling's heroics. On an in-bounds play under the basket,
Bez Mbeng found Knowling, who banked home a left-handed shot, was fouled and had Lee Amphitheater in a frenzy. Knowling made the free throw, and Nazir Williams' desperation three-pointer at the buzzer missed.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Danny Wolf scored 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to pace the Bulldogs. He was 10-of-17 from the field. Poulakidas finished with 13 points, Knowling had 12 and
August Mahoney scored 11. Mbeng contributed seven points, six assists and four steals.
Nick Townsend added seven points and five rebounds off the bench.
Manon led Cornell with 22 points, while Williams scored 17.
KEY STATS
Yale limited the high-powered Cornell offense to just 32 second-half points. After making 7-of-13 three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes, the Big Red was 3-of-12 in the second half.
QUOTING JONES
"I was extremely proud as a coach to have our guys fight the way they did, come back and play together," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Cornell is a tough team to play.
"One of the reasons we were able to win is because of the crowd and the energy we derived from them. I want to thank those people for coming out and supporting us."
NOTES
• The Bulldogs are now one of only two teams in the nation still unbeaten in conference play. Saint Mary's of the WCC, who play later on Saturday, is the other.
• Wolf's double-double was his 10th of the season. He has posted double-doubles in three straight games and seven of his last eight.
• Yale, who outrebounded Cornell 41-20, is now 15-2 when it outrebounds its opponents.
• The Bulldogs won for the third time this season when trailing at the half.
This marked just the fifth time in Ivy League men's basketball history that two 6-0 or better teams squared off. The most recent occurrence was on Feb. 15, 2003, when Penn (6-0) and Brown (7-0) clashed at The Palestra. Penn won that contest 73-66.
WHAT'S NEXT
After playing three straight home games, Yale now is back on the road for its next four, starting with a weekend trip to Penn and Princeton. The Bulldogs play at The Palestra against the Quakers on Friday at 7 p.m. and then are at Princeton on Saturday at 8 p.m. Saturday's game against the Tigers will be televised nationally on ESPN2.
