NEW HAVEN, Conn. – It was quite an efficient night for the Yale men's basketball team. The Bulldogs shot 55 percent from the field, 46 percent from three-point range and had 23 assists on their 33 field goals. The result was a dominant 80-56 victory over Dartmouth at Lee Amphitheater that keeps Yale in first place in the Ivy League.
The victory also has the Bulldogs (19-8, 10-2 Ivy) on the verge of another 20-win season. Yale has won 20 or more games in three of the last four seasons.
The Big Green (5-20, 1-11 Ivy) has lost eight straight games.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
It was a balanced attack from the Bulldogs.
John Poulakidas led the way with 16 points.
Matt Knowling (13 points),
Nick Townsend (11) and
Danny Wolf (10) also scored in double figures.
Bez Mbeng contributed eight points, five assists and three steals.
KEY STAT
Yale's bench shot 11-of-15 (73.3 percent) from the field. Townsend was 5-of-5,
Casey Simmons and
Trevor Mullins made their only field goal attempt,
Yassine Gharram was 2-of-2 and
Teo Rice was 1-of-2. In all, the bench combined for 24 points.
TURNING POINT
Yale never trailed in the game, but Dartmouth stayed within striking distance throughout the first half and was down 36-27 at the break. The Bulldogs then opened the second half with a 14-7 run to go ahead by 16. The Big Green never got closer than 13 the rest of the way. Yale's largest lead was 25 with less than two minutes remaining.
QUOTING JONES
"We did a really nice job of managing the game and playing well," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "Dartmouth provides some difficulties in what they try and do offensively in terms of taking the air out of the ball, so you have to stay focused and concentrate defensively and we did a good job of that."
NOTES
• The Bulldogs are 8-1 at home this season, including 5-0 in Ivy play.
• Wolf had 13 rebounds to go along with his 10 points. It was his 12th double-double of the season.
• Mbeng (2-of-5), Mahoney (3-of-5) and Poulakidas (3-of-6) all shot well from three-point range.
• It was another accurate shooting night from Knowling, who was 5-of-6 from the field. He also contributed five assists.
• Cornell, 87-81 over Penn, and Princeton, 84-70 over Columbia, both won so Yale, Princeton and Cornell all remain tied for first place in the Ivy League with 10-2 records.
WHAT'S NEXT
Harvard visits Lee Amphitheater on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Crimson fell 71-68 in overtime at Brown on Friday.
