NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale's regular season finale provided more evidence of how exciting next weekend's Ivy League Tournament could be. Aaron Cooley's off-balance three-pointer with five-tenths-of-a-second left in overtime lifted Brown to a stunning 84-81 victory over the Bulldogs at Lee Amphitheater.
The Bears, who have won six straight games, will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament. Yale's seeding is still to be determined, but the Bulldogs will meet Cornell in the 2-3 semifinal at 2 p.m. next Saturday at Columbia. Princeton, the top seed, plays Brown at 11 a.m.
Yale ends the regular season with a 20-9 overall record and an 11-3 Ivy mark. The Bears finish 12-17 and 8-6.
NOT IN THE BOX SCORE
Brown's only lead of the game came on Cooley's winning shot. The Bulldogs were in front for 42 minutes, 39 seconds.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Five Bulldogs scored in double figures, led by
August Mahoney, who had 16 points.
John Poulakidas scored 14 points, and
Danny Wolf had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Matt Knowling scored 11 points, and
Bez Mbeng contributed 10 points and six assists.
Nick Townsend and
Casey Simmons each scored nine points.
Kino Lilly Jr., the Ivy League's leading scorer, scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half to lead Brown. Nana Owusu-Anane added 20 points for the Bears.
TURNING POINT
Yale had an 11-point lead after a Mahoney driving layup with 4:12 remaining in the second half. Brown, though, scored the next 10 points to close within 71-70. A Poulakidas pull-up jumper put the Bulldogs back in front by three, but Owusu-Anane's baseline three-pointer with 35 seconds left tied the score and forced overtime.
Yale scored the first four points of the extra period and held the lead until Lilly's three-pointer tied the score at 81 with 58 seconds remaining.
KEY STAT
The Bears had 16 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 21 points.
QUOTING JONES
[On the winning shot]: "We played good defense, and [Cooley] hit a shot. You have to tip your hat to him. It wasn't a clean look. It was an off-balance, contested three that went in," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs.
[On Brown's offensive rebounding]: "They won the game because of what they did on the interior."
[On what's ahead]: "The message is we have to be connected to win, and as a coach I fully believe that if we play our best game, we'll be happy at the end of the day. We have to get to the point where we are playing our best basketball. We'll have a good week of practice and get ready to do that."
CELEBRATING THE SENIORS
Prior to the tip, seniors Mahoney, Knowling and
Yussif Basa-Ama were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the program both on and off the court. Basa-Ama started the game and contributed two rebounds, a block and an assist as Yale raced out to an early lead.
WHAT'S NEXT
The postseason. Yale will be playing in the Ivy League Tournament for the sixth straight season. The Bulldogs have advanced to the championship game four times and won the tournament twice.
