The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Bulldogs advance to Ivy final
NEW HAVEN — They were 20 minutes away from a date with their rival, one half of basketball separating the Yale men’s basketball team from a meeting with Harvard for the Ivy League title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
And all that stood in the way was Princeton, a team the Bulldogs dusted by 22 points a week ago.
Simple script, right? Somehow, it became a complicated afternoon at their home gym. The offense sputtered and their young opponent surged from a 12-point deficit to a seven-point lead.
The angst was palpable, from the stands to the bench.
“We’re out there trying to fight for our lives … yeah, I was a little worried,” Yale coach James Jones said after his team held on for an 83-77 win Saturday afternoon.
As it turned out, Jones and his Bulldogs were simply better in their Ivy League Tournament semifinal game. Miye Oni, the league’s best player, grabbed the game by its throat with six consecutive points and a pass through the lane that set up a goahead basket by Trey Phills with 75 seconds left in the game.
And when it was tied with under a minute left, Yale crisply executed as Alex Copeland kicked a pass out to Blake Reynolds at the top of the key. Reynolds hit a 3-pointer and Yale had the lead with 39 seconds left, a lead it would not relinquish.
The Bulldogs hit free throws in the waning seconds — they converted 16 of 16 in the game — and those fundamentals, absent as Princeton grabbed control in the second half — were back.
The ball movement, the defense and rebounding … it was back in time to survive and scare and set up matchup for the ages.
Harvard, a winner over Penn in the first game Saturday, will face Yale with an NCAA Tournament berth at stake.
“When we signed up to come here and play for Yale, and you could have told us that we would have one game in our building, against Harvard, to go to March Madness … that’s kind of a dream come true,” Copeland said. “We’re going to come out with a lot of energy. Yeah, we don’t like Harvard.”
Harvard (18-10, 10-4 in the league) is the No. 1 seed, Yale (21-7, 10-4) is No. 2. That’s only because Harvard won a tiebreaker after beating Yale twice in the regular season (65-49 in Cambridge, 88-86 in New Haven).
Oni’s prognosis of the game is simple. The team that plays harder for 40 minutes will win.
When Yale was at its best against Princeton (16-12, 8-6), it was unbeatable. Especially when Oni had the ball in his hands.
The Bulldogs, who led 46-34 at halftime, became stagnant in the second half. Princeton went on a 15-0 run, as Yale was missing shots and unable to stop the Tigers.
“I had confidence … I felt at some point that we were going to get on a run, as we’ve done so often this year,” Jones said.
The run came in the waning minutes, sparked by Oni. Princeton led by five with 3 minutes left when Oni converted a pair of free throws.
With 2:27, he drove to the basket and converted a layup. With 1:53 left, he scored on another drive to tie the game.
And on the next possession, he found Phills under the basket.
Oni, the conference Player of the Year, had 23 points, eight rebounds, five assists and a steal.
“We had to dig deep, focus on every single possession,” Oni said of the final run.
Princeton was led by Richmond Aririguzoh (24 points) and Jaelin Llewellyn (17). Senior Myles Stephens (13) fouled out with 3:10 left, leaving Princeton with an inexperienced unit on the floor.
By then, though, the momentum had shifted. With the crowd behind it, Yale had in mojo back as Oni was taking over the game.
And when it was tied with 39 seconds left, Reynolds (16 points) took the pass from Copeland (16 points, five assists) and buried the 3-pointer. It was Yale’s game. Again.
“That was a really good college basketball game,” Jones said. “It was a thrill of a game. My guys really fought hard. They really made some really good plays, some great plays down the stretch.”