The defense led the way.
That was Yale coach James Jones’ observation about how his Bulldogs engineered a 72-53 win at Dartmouth Saturday to even the season series and stay within a game of Princeton in the Ivy League title chase.
“[W]e were able to put some stops together to end the first half, which gave us momentum coming out of halftime,” Jones said. “Outside of a five-minute stretch offensively in the first half, we played perfectly.”
Yale (16-6, 6-3 Ivy) has now won five straight and gained revenge over the Big Green for defeating them in New Haven in January. No Ivy team is playing at a higher level than the second-place Bulldogs.
Dartmouth (8-15, 4-5) held a 22-20 lead, but Yale scored the final 13 points of the half. The visitors led by as many as 23 points in the second half. Dartmouth never trailed by less than 10 points in the second stanza.
Junior forward Matt Knowling once again led Yale’s balanced scoring attack with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field. Sophomore forward Bez Mbeng chipped in with 12 points.
Senior forward Dame Adelekun was the only Dartmouth player who scored in double figures, tallying 13 points on 4-for-11 shooting.
The Bulldogs shot 45.8% for the game and 42% from three-point range (8-for-19), outrebounding Dartmouth, 40-31. Yale committed only seven turnovers.
Dartmouth hosts Princeton on Saturday and Yale’s revenge tour continues with a home game against Columbia, which stunned Yale in the Ivy opener on December 31.