Category: Yale

Yale 59, Harvard 50: Home-Court Advantage Long Time Coming

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – There have been a few times that I’ve seen Lee Amphitheater full and rocking, and it’s one of my favorite sights in all the sporting world: an ancient cathedral whose history can be heard – even from the rafters – with every bounce of the ball and gasp of the crowd.

Alas, my recollections of Yale’s septuagenarian home growing up are mostly of the place being packed to see the other team, which doesn’t necessarily mean they were cheering for Pete Carril and Princeton or Fran Dunphy and Penn or even Steve Donahue and Cornell, but they were certainly the main attraction, and on the other nights of the Ivy season? Well, Ingalls Rink and the Yale hockey team was down the street.

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Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Talking 2-Bid Ivy

What Happened Last Week: Princeton snapped Yale’s 12-game win streak, pulling even in the loss column. Columbia stayed in the race with a dominant home sweep. Harvard shocked Cornell with the season’s most improbable comeback. Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Talking 2-Bid Ivy” →

Yale 79, Penn 58: Justin Sears Carries Bulldogs

PHILADELPHIA – There’s just something about Justin Sears’ game that doesn’t seem to allow him to get the credit he sometimes deserves.

Even from his own coach.

“The thing about Justin is he’s an enigma,” Yale coach James Jones said after Sears tied a career-high with 31 points in Yale’s 79-58 win over Penn at The Palestra Saturday night. “He’s a tremendous player. Sometimes I don’t understand some of the things he does, but he has his own way about him, and his way is a good way. When he’s playing at the top his game, especially in this league, he’s very hard to stop.

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Princeton 75, Yale 63: In Search Of Jack Montague

PRINCETON, N.J. – Upon arrival at Dartmouth’s Leede Arena last Friday night, always helpful Yale Sports Information contact Tim Bennett came over to inform me that Jack Montague was not with the team for the weekend for “personal reasons”. I asked a couple of cursory questions, but that was it.

Odd, I thought. Montague had started 52 straight games and was the captain, a big deal at Yale, which only chooses one for each sport (and has a long history of doing so), meaning that Montague beat out Justin Sears for the coveted position. Personally, I had gotten to know him a bit over the last three years and before the Bulldogs went to Australia for the summer, chatted with him at length about his summer trip to Croatia and Serbia for his history class (secretly, I’m a history nerd when not chasing college basketball games in the winter).

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Ivy League Midseason Breakdown

We’re at the halfway point of Ivy League play, with each team having played seven or eight games. The conference has sorted itself nicely: Yale, Princeton and Columbia are undefeated against the other five — who are all bunched at 2-3 wins — and the Bulldogs have the inside track to the championship. How did each team get there? Find out below. Continue reading “Ivy League Midseason Breakdown” →

Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Princeton’s Comeback Shakes Up Race

What Happened Last Week: Just when we thought Columbia-ing was a thing of the past, Columbia Columbia’d in epic fashion. Yale and Princeton got road sweeps heading into Friday’s showdown. (Stay tuned for an Ivy League midseason mega-report later this week.) Continue reading “Ivy League Weekly Roundup: Princeton’s Comeback Shakes Up Race” →

Yale 75, Dartmouth 65: Chasing Pesky Elephants Out Of The Room

HANOVER, N.H. – Everyone knew about the elephant in Leede Arena, but when he sat down behind the Yale bench early in the second half, the Bulldogs decided they’d had quite enough.

The Bulldogs were overdue for a bit of a comeuppance, coming into Dartmouth with a 60.4 eFG% in Ivy League play complete with a 47.0% three-point percentage. And it made sense that it might come in Hanover, site of last season’s catastrophe that does not need to be rehashed (but you can do so at your own peril if you wish), Yale’s first road game in three weeks and just its second in conference play.

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Yale 83, Cornell 52: Longest Win Streak in 59 Years For Bulldogs

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Cornell’s plan was pretty simple, really. After all, the Big Red’s biggest strength – pressure defense at a high tempo – coincided with Yale’s seemingly glaring weakness – turning the ball over at an alarming rate.

It worked for a few minutes, Makai Mason’ offensive foul was Yale’s fifth turnover just 7:36 in, and Cornell’s bench was jumping as the Bulldogs looked frustrated.

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