NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It had been over a month since the Yale men's basketball team played in the friendly confines of the John J. Lee Amphitheater, and there was a big crowd awaiting their return on Monday night. The Bulldogs put on quite a show for the nearly 2,000 in attendance, cruising to a dominant 89-70 victory over Columbia.
Yale (11-6, 2-0 Ivy) has won four straight games and six of its last seven.
Columbia (9-6, 0-2 Ivy) lost for the second time in a row.
TURNING POINT
The Bulldogs had only a two-point lead at halftime, 41-39, but erupted in the first 10 minutes of the second half, outscoring the Lions 29-6. From there, Yale was able to put it into cruise control and coast to the victory.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
John Poulakidas went off for 26 points to lead four Bulldogs in double figures. Poulakidas made seven of Yale's 12 three-pointers.
Danny Wolf posted his sixth double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks.
Bez Mbeng and
Matt Knowling both scored 12 points and
August Mahoney contributed eight.
Nick Townsend and
Casey Simmons had four points apiece.
KEY STAT
After allowing Columbia to shoot 47 percent from the field in the first half, the Bulldogs held the Lions to just 27.6 percent (8-of-29) in the second half.
QUOTING JONES
"The second half was some of our best basketball of the year. We rebounded well, we defended and we made shots," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "John was beyond hot, and his teammates were able to find him."
[On winning six of seven games since Fairfield on Dec. 6] "We've grown as a group. Even though we had a lot back from last year, we were trying to identify roles. A lot of that is handled on the court, and we played a good non-conference schedule that showed us some things we needed to improve upon."
SHARING THE BALL
The Bulldogs finished with 23 assists on their 34 field goals. Knowling, who returned to lineup after missing the Brown game with an injury, led the way with five. Mbeng, Mahoney and Poulakidas had four and Wolf added three.
NOTES
• Poulakidas' seven three-pointers were a career high and one shy of the school record shared by Chris Leanza and Matt Ricketts.
• Wolf has now posted double-doubles in each of his last three games.
• The Bulldogs committed just six turnovers.
• Over the last 5+ seasons, Yale is 30-6 at home in Ivy games.
WHAT'S AHEAD
It's a short stay at home for the Bulldogs, who play their next two games on the road – Saturday at Dartmouth and Jan. 27 at Harvard. Both are 2 p.m. starts. Yale's next home game is Feb. 2 vs. Princeton.
