NEW HAVEN – The hegemony over Princeton continues for Yale at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The Elis defeated the Tigers, 66-63, Yale’s sixth straight win in the series. The win also marks the ninth home weekend sweep of Princeton and Penn. To put this into historical context, Penn leads the overall series by 151-82 and Princeton leads it now 150-84.
Yale (22-6, 10-2 Ivy) led at the half by 27-26 on a Paul Atkinson layup off a nifty feed from Eric Monroe, after Princeton (13-12, 8-4) had gained the lead 26-23 on three-pointers by the ever reliable Ryan Schwieger and Ethan Wright.
Yale opened the second half on a 12-3 run aided by two Jordan Bruner threes and gained a 10-point lead, 39-29.
Princeton clawed back. Jaelin Llewellyn, who finished with 21 points, heated up from beyond the arc and knotted the score.
Yale, which led for 36:55 of the game, then went on a run of its own, assisted by a Matt Cotton four-point play. Yale grabbed a 62-54 lead with six minutes and change to go.
Two Drew Friberg free throws pulled Princeton to within one at 62-61 with 1:14 remaining.
Yale was then the beneficiary of a crucial late-game official overturn of a ball-out-of-bounds play for the second night in a row. Paul Atkinson blocked a Schwieger shot, and the replay demonstrated that it went off of Schwieger.
Eric Monroe hit two free throws to give Yale the three-point win. Princeton missed a long trey from the corner at the buzzer.
“We’ve been in every type of game,” Yale coach James Jones said. “Our guys are battle-tested.”
It was Senior Night at Yale before a crowd of 2,066 and Monroe, Bruner (who will likely be turning pro) and Eric Williams were all honored. Williams earned his first start and responded with the first bucket of the game.
Atkinson led Yale off the bench with 18 points.
Yale remains in first place in the Ivy League, a game ahead of Harvard with one weekend to play, including a matchup at Lavietes Pavilion in the regular season finale.