DENVER, Colo. – Four Bulldogs scored in double figures, but the Yale men's basketball team's remarkable 2024-25 season ended with an 80-71 loss to Texas A&M in the NCAA First Round at Ball Arena on Thursday evening. 
 
Turning Point
After being down 40-29 at half, the Bulldogs fought back in the second. With 11:46 remaining, Riley Fox drained his first three-pointer of the night, narrowing the Aggies' lead to nine (54-45). Yale kept up the pressure as Fox sank another three, followed by a Nick Townsend jumper, cutting the deficit to 58-52 with 8:36 left. However, Texas A&M responded with a decisive 9-0 run, extending their lead to 67-52 with 5:43 to play. The Aggies maintained control for the remainder of the game.
 
Notable Performances

• John Poulakidas had a strong performance with a team-high 23 points on 7-of-18 shooting and was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. He also tallied 16 of his points in the second half.
• Nick Townsend tallied 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting with four rebounds and four assists.
• Isaac Celiscar added 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
• Casey Simmons chipped in with 11 points and five rebounds.
• Yale shot 51.6% (16-of-31) in the second half.
• Texas A&M had a slight edge on the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 37-29.

 
Bulldog Notes

• Poulakidas finished the season tallying double figures in 26 games, including his past 16.
• Yale had a remarkable 2024-25 season, recording a perfect 11-0 record at home, held the nation's longest active winning streak at 13 games, and secured 20 or more wins for the fifth time in six seasons.
• The Bulldogs also secured back-to-back Ivy Tournament titles for the first time in program history, marking their fifth March Madness appearance under Head Coach James Jones and the eighth in school history.
• Poulakidas capped off his outstanding career at Yale with 1,362 points, placing him ninth in the program's history. He also ranks second for both single-season three-pointers made with 87 and career three-pointers made with 243.
• Bez Mbeng capped off his remarkable Yale career with 1,189 points. This season, he made history as the program's first-ever Ivy League Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year. He also set a program record with three double-doubles, broke the career steals record, finishing with 195, and sits second all-time at Yale with 449 career assists.

 
Hear from Coach Jones
"I'd like to congratulate Texas A&M. I thought they played a great game. Buzz does a great job. Really good group of young men he has there that play really hard. In terms of our team, I couldn't be prouder of our effort today. It wasn't our best performance. For us to be successful in a game at this level, a lot of things have to go right. We have to make our free throws. We have to take better care of the ball. We didn't do those things tonight. What didn't dwindle was our energy and our effort. These two seniors here, John and Bez, have led us through thick and thin throughout their four years. They've been tremendous assets to our program. One of my assistant coaches, Justin Simon, said it, they came into a winning program and they helped bring us to another level. They won four championships in their time at Yale. As I said, I couldn't be prouder of them and their effort as well as their teammates."