james jones

Yale comeback falls just short versus Harvard

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It was an ending that even the great Steven Spielberg could not have scripted.

Harvard traveled to John J. Lee Amphitheater Friday night in desperate need of a win after losing to Penn and Princeton on the road last weekend. The Ivy schedule makers dealt the Crimson a very tough early-season hand.

Harvard eked out a dramatic 78-77 win after Azar Swain hit a clutch three with one second left, was fouled by Rio Haskett and after a seemingly endless wait on the free throw line due to an official review of the time remaining, missed the free throw.

Harvard’s Rio Haskett after being called for what could have been a game-changing foul on Azar Swain as Swain hit a three with Yale trailing 78-74 with 0.9 seconds left at Yale Friday. But Azar Swain couldn’t complete the four-point play after a four-minute-long official review resulted in the addition of 2.1 seconds to the game clock, and the Crimson left New Haven with a victory by the slimmest of margins. | Photo by Erica Denhoff
Swain was brilliant in the second half ,scoring 27 of his game-high 33 points in that stanza. He almost single-handedly brought Yale back from a 13-point deficit in the last five minutes of the game resulting from a 9-0 run in a game played before a boisterous and student-laden sellout crowd of 2,706.
Harvard led 45-32 at the half, fueled by 19-for-33 (57.6%) shooting from the field, including 6-for-11 (54.5%) from three en route to an 8-for-19 (42.1%) showing from long range on the night. Yale finished the game just 7-for-22 (31.8%) from deep.
Harvard standout big man Chris Lewis (0) s scored just four points Friday at Yale, but Robert Baker scored 10 points and was one of five different Crimson players to hit at least one three-pointer in Harvard’s 78-77 win. Harvard shot 42.1% from outside, besting Yale’s clip of 31.8%. | Photo by Erica Denhoff
Noah Kirkwood had 18 points and Danilo Djuricic posted a pivotal 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
Paul Atkinson had a career-high 28 points on an efficient 11-for-16 from the field predicated upon fleet footwork which consistently befuddled numerous Harvard defenders.
Jordan Bruner was held to three points.
Harvard outrebounded Yale, 35-30, a feat almost never accomplished at JLA. The Elis trailed 71-59 with 5:42 to play but clawed back with 11 points from Swain the rest of the way, including three triples in the final 2:25. Yale had just dug too deep a hole.
“We need to get contributions from everyone,” Yale coach James Jones said.
 “It was hard-fought,” Harvard coach Tommy Amaker said. “We were fortunate to win.”
Yale now sits at 16-5 and 4-1 in the Ivy and Harvard at 14-6 and 3-2.
Noah Kirkwood celebrates after Harvard completed a 78-77 victory at Yale Friday. Kirkwood notched a team-high 18 points for the Crimson. | Photo by Erica Denhoff

Yale men outshoot Cornell in 86-71 home win

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It was the Azar Swain show on Saturday night at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The junior guard torched Cornell for 25 points on 8-for-14 shooting and 6-for-8 from three-point land as Yale beat Cornell, 86-71, before a crowd of 1,506. Cornell hung tight in the first half and was only behind at the end of the half by a 42-39 score. The Big Red made a run in the second half, but whenever things got tight, Swain seemed to come up with a big three.

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Yale men complete sweep of Brown

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It was the Paul Atkinson and Matthue Cotton show at the Pizzitola Sports Center in Providence, as Yale completed the sweep of Brown with a 73-62 win Friday night.
Both teams opened up cold from the field, and turnovers were the order of the day in the early going.
Yale coach James Jones brought Cotton in and the quick shooting sophomore guard from New Jersey hit four of his first five three-point shots to distance the league-leading Bulldogs from the Bears.
Yale led 33-25 at the half. Yale’s trademark defense forced high-scoring Brown into numerous off balance threes. The Bears focused largely on Jordan Bruner, who had torched Brown in New Haven.
The second half saw more of the same, as Atkinson scored inside on some nifty feeds and Cotton and dagger-shooting Azar Swain from the outside.
Reserve Wyatt Yess had another solid game for Yale with seven key rebounds.
Brown cut the deficit to six on two occasions late in the game, but an inside move by Atkinson and a three by Swain from the parking lot ended Brown’s bid.
Atkinson finished with 24 and Cotton with a career-high 20, with 15 coming in the first half. Bruner was held to two and had eight rebounds to lead Yale. Eric Monroe and Swain had 10 each.
“Really impressed with our team,” Jones said. “I knew Brown would be ready and give us their best. Our young men stepped up to the challenge.”
Brandon Anderson led Brown with 20 points and Tamenang Choh chipped in with 11 and a game-leading 12 rebounds.

Yale now sits at 14-4, 2-0 Ivy and Brown at 7-8, 0-2.
Both teams start Ivy back-to-backs next weekend, with Columbia at Yale and Cornell at Brown on Friday evening.

Yale men best Brown in Ivy opener, 70-56

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No team in the Ivy is playing even close to the level of Yale and that was exemplified on Friday night before a huge throng at John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Bulldogs played their patented suffocating defense and defeated a talented Brown squad, 70-56.

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Thoughts on early Ivy men’s action

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DINGLE’S DEBUT

Jordan Dingle’s 24 points in Penn’s 81-80 win at Alabama marked the highest scoring total by a rookie in his debut in school history.

Steve Donahue’s system of interchangeable players on offense has allowed rookies to be major contributors in any given matchup, so it’ll be interesting to see how much of the offensive load Dingle carries going forward. But the fact that Dingle scored 16 points in the final 12:40, including the game-winning shot with six seconds left, is impressive. Freshmen often fade late, but in his first ever collegiate game, Dingle became dominant instead.

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Ivy League coaching carousel

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After three years without any head coaching changes, things changed in a big way at the end of April.  Princeton’s Courtney Banghart left after 12 seasons and seven Ivy titles to rebuild the program at the University of North Carolina. The Tigers search lasted a month, ending with the hiring of former UConn guard and long-time Tufts head coach Carla Berube.

On the men’s side, the conference almost lost James Jones to St. John’s, but the Yale coach finished as the Red Storm’s runner-up.  Weeks later, Jones signed an extension that will keep him in New Haven until the end of the 2025-2026 campaign.  In May, Brown’s Mike Martin was reported to be at Holy Cross interviewing for the Crusaders job, but a probable extension kept him in Providence.

Several Ivy assistants made the jump to head coaching positions with Columbia’s (and former Harvard’s) Kenny Blakeney heading to Howard, Penn’s Bernadette Laukaitis returning to Holy Family, Brown’s Tyler Simms going to Clark, and Brown’s Sara Binkhorst moving to Wheaton.

In the off-season’s strangest coaching news, Dartmouth promoted assistant coach Pete Hutchins to associate head coach on March 19th, only to see him jump to an assistant coaching position at George Mason on May 2nd.

The complete list of changes, from 2018-2019 to 2019-2020, for all 16 Ivy teams are noted below.

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Ivy 60 for 60: Justin Sears

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Justin Sears excelled with joy in his four-year Yale basketball career, becoming just the sixth man to be named Ivy Player of the Year twice. (Justin Sears | Twitter)

Ivy Hoops Online announces the next entry in Ivy 60 for 60, our series running through 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history to continue celebrating six decades of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.

He is the only player in the history of Yale basketball to be Ivy Player of the Year two years in a row. He was a fan favorite at John J. Lee Amphitheater throughout his career.  He hails from Plainfield, N.J.  He was a high school star with scholarship offers from many high level D-1 teams, but he chose academics first, much to the satisfaction of his parents.

His name is Justin Sears.

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Ivy 60 for 60: John J. Lee

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John J. Lee graced the cover of the Jan. 21, 1957 edition of Sports Illustrated, a cover that incidentally grabbed the attention of a high school freshman named Bill Bradley, who realized then that an Ivy League education could coexist with basketball excellence. (SI Covers).

Ivy Hoops Online announces the next entry in Ivy 60 for 60, our series running through 60 of the greatest players in Ivy League men’s basketball history after a hiatus to continue celebrating six decades of modern Ivy League basketball. An Ivy 60 for 60 for Ivy women’s basketball will follow.

There was a time when Yale basketball games were played at Payne Whitney Gymnasium.

The Yale men’s and women’s basketball teams now play at John J. Lee Amphitheater.

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