Yale gets back on track with key win over Columbia

By Connor Wilson (@Conman_815)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Even with the Ivy League better than people thought it was coming into the year, the expectation was that Yale was going to roll through the conference into Ivy Madness, as it has done the past couple of years.

The Bulldogs flirted with perfection in the Ivy last year, falling to Harvard on the road on the penultimate weekend to end up 13-1 in league play. Vibes around New Haven and the northeast as a whole were that they had a chance to match that, maybe even finish off the perfection they failed to reach the year prior.

Instead, after winning at Brown on January 5, Yale traveled down to Jadwin Gymnasium for its second game of league play and laid an egg, falling to Princeton, 76-60, and coming out of the first week of Ivy play with more questions than answers.

“We went down to Princeton and didn’t shoot the ball well and it hurt us,” head coach James Jones said. “Sometimes you’ve gotta take a loss and figure some things out.”

The response this weekend? A pair of convincing home wins to move to 3-1 in conference play, including a 91-74 victory over Columbia on Monday afternoon at Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

“I think winning helps, right?” Jones said. “Just winning and getting back to who we are is beneficial. We reset (after Princeton) and were able to do that.”

Yale was led by Nick Townsend and his 25 points, with a career-high-tying four threes. He and fellow frontcourt mate Samson Aletan had their ways inside, with Aletan chipping in a season-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

The Bulldogs came into the day ranked 38th in offensive efficiency according to KenPom, one of the highest ranked mid-major programs in the country in that stat. Yale’s ability on that end of the floor was evident from the opening tip, getting quality looks on nearly every possession offensively.

“Our spacing has been great the past couple games.” Townsend said. “It lets me or Samson or whoever have space to operate in the post with whoever has a good matchup and we’ve been able to get a lot of kickouts.”

After trading jabs for the first few minutes, the Bulldogs had a 9-0 jolt thanks to threes from Townsend, Jordan Brathwaite and Riley Fox that turned a one-point deficit into an eight-point lead in less than two minutes at 22-14, prompting a Kevin Hovde timeout.

Even if it is known for its offense this year, the Yale defense looked the part in the first half, too. The Bulldogs didn’t make life easy for the Lions, closing out well on shots and controlling the glass. One possession in particular saw Brathwaite get a pair of deflections that led to a turnover.

Bench production in the first half and overall was critical as well. The main three reserves of Brathwaite, Fox and Devon Arlington combined for 20 points, hitting timely shots and bringing in some much-needed energy from the bench.

“I thought when we subbed for the first time, we got a lot of energy from Devon, Jordan and Riley.” Jones said. “They were able to knock down a couple threes and really push us, give us a bit of a cushion.”

The first half lead peaked as high as a dozen for Yale after Townsend splashed his second three with around two minutes left, but a free throw and a tip-in layup for the Lions narrowed the advantage to nine, 44-35, at the break.

In less than five minutes to start the second half, the Bulldogs doubled their lead of nine to 18 thanks to a 13-4 jolt out of the locker room. They kept attacking the rim and succeeding, led by a pair of tough finishes to open the run by Casey Simmons. Isaac Celiscar connected with Aletan on a rim-rocking lob finish to get the crowd going.

“It just felt like we had great energy coming out of halftime,” Townsend said. “We got a bunch of good stops in the beginning and were able to have a great few strings of offense where we moved the ball well.”

The Lions trimmed Yale’s lead back to 12 around the 10-minute mark before Fox connected on his second three to push it right back to 15. It would stay around the 12-point range for a few minutes before Townsend’s third triple put the Bulldogs up by a 73-58 count with 6:59 to play.

After a pair of free throws from Gerard O’Keefe for Columbia, Townsend answered with another three and Simmons knocked one down on the next possession as well to make it 79-62. Aletan would bully his way inside for another basket to get the lead to 19 with 4:52 to play.

“I have a lot of confidence in my game, whether I start slow or I start fast,” Aletan said. “My coaching staff and my teammates have a lot of confidence in me and I’m very thankful for that. I just try to make the right play, whether it's scoring or finding a teammate.”

The lead ultimately peaked at 21 after Trevor Mullin hit a three late in the half, and hovered around that range before landing at the 91-74 final that gave the Bulldogs their second straight win to cap off a responsive weekend for the program.

Yale returns to action on Saturday for a rare single-game weekend in the Ivy League when it travels to The Palestra at 2 p.m. to take on Penn.