NEW YORK, N.Y. – Yale executed its offense to near perfection in the second half in earning an important 84-76 victory at Columbia. The Bulldogs were 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) from the field over the final 20 minutes, including hitting several big shots down the stretch.
The win, coupled with Cornell's loss to Brown, moved Yale back into a tie for first place in the Ivy League. The Bulldogs, Big Red and Princeton are all 9-2 in league play with three games remaining. All three have already qualified for the four-team Ivy League Tournament but the regular season title and seeding for the tournament are still to be determined.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Danny Wolf and
Matt Knowling each scored 20 points to pace Yale. Wolf added nine rebounds and three assists, while Knowling had seven assists.
John Poulakidas scored 18 points and
August Mahoney had 13.
Bez Mbeng contributed six assists, while the bench –
Casey Simmons (6 points),
Nick Townsend (5 points) and
Yassine Gharram (2 points) - combined for 13 points.
TURNING POINT
The Lions (13-11, 6-7 Ivy) had a five-point lead, 58-53, midway through the second half, but the Bulldogs took over from there. Yale scored the next six points, the start of an 18-5 run. Columbia got back within three, but two three-pointers from Mahoney and one from Poulakidas in the final 3:30 sealed the victory.
KEY STAT
Yale outscored Columbia 48-28 in the paint. The Lions had no answer inside for Wolf and Knowling.
QUOTING JONES
"It was a great team effort. Unlike last night, we did a good job offensively of sharing the ball and playing together," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We played the right way."
[On Knowling's offensive performance]. "We took what they gave us. It was one-on-one at the basket, and he was able to go score. When they doubled him, he kicked it out and found shooters. It was a nice combination."
NOTES
• Knowling's seven assists were a career high. He has now scored in double figures in each of his last nine games.
• The Bulldogs did not commit a turnover in the first half and finished with four in the game.
• This was Yale's final road game of the regular season. The Bulldogs finished with a 9-6 road record.
WHAT'S NEXT
Yale plays it final three games in the friendly confines of Lee Amphitheater. First up is Dartmouth next Friday at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs then host Harvard on Saturday at 7 p.m. before finishing up with Brown on Mar. 9 at noon.
