NEW YORK, N.Y. – Four Bulldogs tallied double-figures as the Yale men's basketball team picked up an Ivy victory on the road with a 92-88 win at Columbia. Yale improved to 9-6 (2-0 Ivy), and the Lions fell to 11-4 (0-2 Ivy).
 
Turning Point
After a back-and-forth first half, Yale's offense took off with eight minutes remaining in the second. After Columbia recorded a three-pointer to extend its advantage to 67-62, the Bulldogs went on a 6-0 run, highlighted by four points from Nick Townsend. Yale continued to push the pace, extending the lead to 10 (82-72) with 2:25 to go. The Lions countered with a three in the final seconds of play to trim the deficit back down to two, but free throws by Bez Mbeng put the game out of reach for good.
 
Notable Performances

• John Poulakidas paced the Bulldogs with 29 points (one shy of a career-high), shooting 8-of-17 from the field and 6-of-12 from deep. He also recorded 17 of his points in the first half.
• Townsend had a strong game, tallying 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting with nine rebounds and four assists. The junior was dominant in the second half, recording 18 of his points.
• Mbeng had 19 points, six rebounds, a team-high nine assists and a steal.
• Casey Simmons added 12 points, nine rebounds, and two assists.
• The Bulldogs outrebounded Columbia, 46-29.

 Bulldog Notes

• Yale tallied 17 second chance points compared to Columbia's 12.
• 34 of the Bulldogs' points were in the paint.
• Townsend has tallied double figures in his past 10 games.
• For the 11th time in 15 games, Yale outrebounded its opponent.
• With his one steal in the game, Mbeng sits at 167 career steals, which tied Alex Zampier (2006-10) for the program record.

Hear from Coach Jones
"I thought it was just a tough road win for us. It's always hard to win league games on the road. I thought Columbia did a great job. We shot ourselves in the foot, especially in the first half, turning the ball over. We need to be better at that. I thought there were some things that we did to ourselves that we need to correct if we're going to be special. We had some really good performances tonight. Bez had nine assists, John had 29 points, Nick had 20 and nine rebounds, so it was a good overall win for our team."
 
Looking Ahead
The Bulldogs will host Dartmouth for a MLK day matchup on Monday, January 20. Tip is slated for 2 p.m.