Revenge is sweet.
Yale exacted some against Fairfield Saturday, 91-66, in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun.
Last season, Fairfield stunned Yale, 75-71, at John J. Lee Amphitheater. The Bulldogs wouldn’t let that happen again en route to what became the 400th win of his coaching career.
“That was a really good Yale basketball win,” Jones said, adding that the 400-win achievement “[j]ust means I have been around a long time.”
Yale (4-3) opened up an 11-0 lead on two free throws from sophomore center Samson Aletan. Fairfield (2-4) would never get any closer.
The Bulldogs ran up 29-9 on a senior guard John Poulakidas try and led 46-26 at the half. Poulakidas had 17 of those points. The Yale leading scorer finished with 22 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including 6-for-7 from long range.
Yale led by as many as 26 points.
“Our team is good enough no matter what other teams do,” Jones said.
The hosts shot 60% (33-for-55) from the field and outrebounded the Stags, 36-23.
Eleven Yale players scored. Junior forward Nick Townsend contributed 16 points and seven rebounds. Aletan registered 15 points.
Yale made a concerted effort to get the ball inside to Aletan early in the game. The Bulldogs employed the same strategy against Purdue.
Jones’ squad had struggled at times this season from the free throw line but went 18-for-20 Saturday.
Redshirt sophomore guard Noah Best and redshirt freshman guard Makuei Riek each notched 13 points to lead Fairfield.
Yale is next in action Sunday, again at Mohegan Sun against Delaware.