The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Bulldogs are goin’ dancing
Yale downs Harvard to win Ivy, earn NCAA bid
NEW HAVEN — Yale’s response could have been “Oh, no!” when
Miye Oni picked up his fourth foul just under six minutes into the second half of the Ivy League championship game.
Or, as head coach James Jones put it, “Oh, nuts! Here we go again!”
Instead, with their leading scorer and NBA prospect on the bench, the Bulldogs went on a head-spinning run to win the Ivy title on Sunday afternoon and clinch a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
At home. Against their ancient rival.
“To be honest, it’s really hard to put into words,” senior forward Blake Reynolds said after Yale’s 97-85 win over Harvard at Lee Amphitheater. “To do this against Harvard, at home, it’s an unbelievable feeling. We came out and executed, offensively and defensively, really well.”
Yale booked its fifth trip to the NCAA tournament and its second in the last four years.
“We got a taste of that tournament berth our freshman year and we’ve been hungry for it throughout our careers,” Reynolds continued. “We really wanted to get back there. To punch that tournament berth at home, in front of our friends and family, was an unbelievable feeling.”
Alex Copeland had 25 points and seven assists, Oni added 17 points and Azar Swain 15 off the bench. Reynolds added 14 points and Jordan Burner
10 as the Bulldogs shot a whopping 60.4 percent from the floor and knocked down 28 of 30 foul shots.
Yale withstood a 38-point effort from Harvard’s Bryce Aiken.
Oni shot just 3-for-10 from the floor. When he went to the bench with his fourth foul with 14:13 left in the latter half, Yale trailed by a point.
“Bad call,” was Copeland’s initial reaction to Oni’s foul.
“My second reaction,” Copeland added, “was that I looked to the clock, I looked at the rest of the guys on the court, and I said, ‘We’ve got to do it on our own. We’ve got to hold it down until he can get back in the game.’”
When Oni returned a little less than 10 minutes later, the Bulldogs led 84-74, thanks largely to a 15-0 run capped by seven straight points from Copeland.
“Other guys picked (Oni) up,” said Jones. “Alex Copeland was outstanding. He was tremendous. He’s like a bull that sees red.”
It reminded Jones of the Bulldogs’ first game of the season against Cal, when Oni got into early foul trouble and other players picked up the slack.
Reynolds had picked up a flagrant-1 technical on an offensive foul, then his third foul of the game within the opening minute of the latter half.
“I don’t think it could have started better for Harvard than when we had two of our best players with multiple fouls, and had that flagrant technical go against us,” said Jones. “Just a great way for them to start and take the edge, because we had momentum going into halftime.”
“Certainly, that was a big moment for us to think that we could try to capitalize on it,” said Harvard coach Tommy Amaker. “Obviously, we didn’t. Sometimes that can go against you. You maybe get a little bit overconfident. And I think their team certainly pulled together, and that’s a great testament to their program and to their play (on Sunday).”
Yale (22-7) avenged two regular-season losses to Harvard (18-11). The Bulldogs, who are the No. 14 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region, will face third-seeded LSU in a first-round game on Thursday in Jacksonville, Fla.
“It wouldn’t surprise me one bit if they go on a run in the tournament,” said Amaker. “I think they’re good enough, talented enough, hopefully they’re healthy. They’ll have a chance, in my opinion, to do some damage in the tournament. It would not surprise me one bit.”
The first 30 minutes were nip-and-tuck. Yale owned a 43-42 lead at halftime, but the Crimson quickly took a 50-45 lead in the first few minutes of the latter half. Oni hit an elbow jumper to put the Bulldogs back up by a point with 14:47 left, but then was called for his fourth foul.
Aiken hit two free throws to put Harvard up 54-53, but the Bulldogs responded with a 20-5 run. When Reynolds scored inside on an inbounds pass with 12:02 left, it kicked off Yale’s 15-0 run and was the 10th — and final — lead change of the game.
RIM RATTLINGS
Copeland was named the ⏩ Ivy tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and joined Oni, Aiken, Penn’s A.J. Brodeur and Princeton’s Richmond Aririguzah on the all-tournament team.