Princeton led Yale 61-42 with 8:29 remaining in the game at Jadwin Gym Saturday night. The Bulldogs were missing leading scorer Matt Knowling with an ankle injury suffered the night before.
And yet Princeton could not finish at home to maintain sole possession of first place atop the Ivy League standings. In an instant classic, Yale completed a comeback neither program will soon forget to top the Tigers, 93-83, in overtime.
Yale, Princeton and Penn now share first place in the Ivy at 8-4 in league play.
It had all started so well for the hosts.
Princeton led by 18-7 in the first half, and even though 10 straight Yale points from sophomore guard John Poulakidas cut the deficit to 25-24, the Tigers still led 34-26 at the half off 62% shooting.
Not much changed in the second half – until Princeton’s lead grew to 19.
Yale went on an improbable 26-7 run fueled by stellar team defense and a combination of Tiger turnovers and what appeared to be a shift by Princeton to a less aggressive offensive style.
Yale sophomore guard Bez Mbeng made a layup and Princeton junior guard Matt Allocco missed a three in the last five seconds to send the game into overtime, knotted at 70.
Yale’s momentum carried over into the overtime frame. The Bulldogs finished the game on a 19-9 run consisting of six points each from Poulakidas and Mbeng.
Poulakidas recorded a game-high and career-high 30 points.
“Our confidence comes from the work we put in every day in practice,” Poulakidas said. “We had a lot of synergy tonight. We got this win for Matt [Knowling].”
Mbeng registered 21 points, and Yale senior forward EJ Jarvis added 18.
Reigning Ivy Player of the Year Tosan Evbuomwan led Princeton with 22 points, while senior guard Ryan Langborg posted 14.
Yale pocketed eight steals in the game.
The Bulldogs have now won nine out of the last 10 meetings with Princeton. They host Cornell and Princeton visits Harvard on Saturday.
So much for playing better defense.