“I just like to think that our kids always believe,” Jones said after his team nurtured a lead for the entire first half before falling behind over the last 10 minutes. “We just kind of looked at it one possession at a time.”
Yale stuck to its guns even after Brown went on a 6-0 run to take a 46-44 lead with 8:22 left. Brown experienced a momentum shift once Yale’s star big man Danny Wolf hit the bench at the 10:45 mark. Wolf stayed on the bench for only two-and-a-half minutes, but Yale’s four-point lead swung to a two-point deficit in that time.
Brown’s offense simply needed a refueling to put itself in a prime position to capture the Ivy League championship and extend its winning streak to eight games. Sophomore forward Kalu Anya came up with a few big plays, showing off a soft touch around the rim that proved to be a handful for the Bulldogs to defend. He teamed up with junior guard Kino Lilly, Jr. late, and it looked like the pairing was all but guaranteed to get the job done once Lilly nailed his jumper with a minute left to push the lead back to four.
But as good as Lilly and Brown’s young core is, Yale’s battalion of veterans shined late when it needed to. Senior guard August Mahoney hit two big threes down the stretch to cut the Brown lead to three and two, respectively. Junior guard John Poulakidas was just as clutch, hitting a long three from the wing with 15 seconds left that got the deficit back to one. Poulakidas’ knack for shot making was on display the whole night, finishing with 18 points on 4-of-9 shooting from long distance.
Malachi Ndur missed his ensuing free throws, setting up the moment for Knowling to further cement his legacy in New Haven. Yale’s last possession started with Wolf getting trapped after receiving the inbounds pass, which led to him finding Bez Mbeng, who identified Knowling in the low post. The floater was released well in time, kickstarting the Bulldogs’ celebration at Levien Gymnasium.
“I just wanted to put myself near the basket to clean up any misses,” Knowling said. “I didn’t think I was going to be that open.”
“The fact that the last basket was scored off an assist on a kid (Mbeng) trying to make a play for someone else is just so meaningful to me as a coach,” Jones said.
Moments before making the decisive bounce back to set up Knowling, Mbeng hit an and-one in traffic that was poorly defended by Brown. That brought the lead back to three, and set up the fireworks with Poulakidas’ three and Knowling’s season-saving basket. Mbeng, who recently won his second straight Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year award, has been the glue guy all season for the Bulldogs.
“He’s just special,” Jones said of the Maryland native. “I know I would not want to be guarded by him, because I would turn the ball over a lot with my handle. Having Bez on our team helps us tremendously.”
Yale now stands at 22-9, but needed today’s victory in order to punch its ticket to the Big Dance. With their combination of smarts and defensive intensity, the Bulldogs can pose a matchup problem right out of the gate for a high seed. Jones acknowledged that he wouldn’t mind a rematch with Kansas — after losing 75-60 to the Jayhawks in Lawrence back in December — if Hunter Dickinson and Kevin McCullar, Jr. would miss time in the tournament due to injuries both are dealing with. For now, the Bulldogs will enjoy this win for as long as they can.
“We’re going to soak this one all in,” said Mahoney. “Every kid dreams of moments like this. Mr. Knowling over here hit a game-winner to go to March Madness. What kid doesn’t ‘3-2-1’ in the backyard envisioning going to March Madness? That is a dream come true for him and a dream come true for us.”
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