Ivy men’s semifinal: No. 1 Yale gets big plays late to take down No. 4 Princeton, 59-57

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – They say it’s hard to beat a team three times in one season, but it’s more likely when you have as talented and poised a team as Yale.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (21-7) relied on clutch plays from their three First-Team All-Ivy stars, senior guard Bez Mbeng, senior guard John Poulakidas and junior forward Nick Townsend to overcome a furious second-half Princeton rally to take Saturday’s opening Ivy League Tournament semifinal at the Pizzitola Sports Center, 59-57.

“I thought our kids were gutty and played hard, and we had controlled the game for 30-some-odd minutes until the end, when Princeton took over,” coach James Jones said after the hard-fought contest. “What was great about my guys, there was no hesitation, there was no nervousness. They stayed with the game plan and were able to make some great pays and pull it out.” 

The Tigers (19-11), blown out in both regular-season losses to the Bulldogs, battled back from a sluggish start to have a chance to win the game at the buzzer, but a right-elbow three from the Orange and Black’s First-Team All-Ivy guard, junior Xaivian Lee, clanked off the back of the net and fell to the court.

Jones’ squad, which looks to be the first No. 1 seed to win Ivy Madness since Princeton in 2017, lives another day to take on No. 2 Cornell, which defeated No. 3 Dartmouth, 87-71, in the day’s second game.

Sweeping the season series by a combined 34 points, Yale looked to put Saturday’s game away early by hitting five of its first seven to jump out to a 12-0 lead in the first five minutes.

The Tigers finally settled down after missing its first seven shots and sophomore guard Dalen Davis, who starred in last year’s semifinal upset loss to Brown, hit a three to get Princeton on the board 30 seconds later.

Yale was up nine, 16-7, when Second-Team All-Ivy forward Caden Pierce worked a pick-and-roll with Lee and went in for a two-handed slam. On the team’s next possession, Lee got a step on Mbeng, the three-time Ivy Defensive Player of the Year, and was fouled as he went in for the successful layup. After hitting the free throw, the Bulldogs were only up 16-12 at the midway point of the first half.

Still down four with fewer than seven minutes on the clock, senior guard Blake Peters put up a contested three from the left elbow to make it a 21-20 game, but the Bulldogs regrouped a went on a 10-0 run to up its advantage to 11.

Peters hit another three, this time from the right elbow, to end the almost five-minute drought.

Following a Yale miss, the Tigers worked the game clock under a minute and the shot clock down to single digits before Davis made his move. The 6-foot guard threaded through the forwards, 6-foot-7 Townsend and 6-foot-6 junior forward Casey Simmons, to get the layup and close out the opening stanza with Yale up 31-25.

The Bulldogs entered the game as one of the nation’s top three-point and two-point shooting teams at 38.2% and 53.5%, respectively. While the team went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, it converted 72% (13-for-18) from inside the arc. Defensively, Yale held the three-point-focused Tigers to only 21% (4-for-19) from downtown, while its 12% advantage on the glass prevented its rivals any second-chance opportunities and contributed to seven more attempts from the free throw line.

Poulakidas finally got Yale into the three-point column with back-to-back triples in the opening two-plus minutes of the second half.

On the Bulldogs’ next possession, Poulakidas couldn’t make it 3-for-3 from downtown, but sophomore center Samson Aletan grabbed the offensive rebound and got it to Simmons for the layup that made it 39-28.

Yale was up 12, 47-35, with less than 11 minutes left in regulation, when the Tigers made its next move.

Over the next four minutes, Princeton went on a 12-2 run to cut the Bulldogs deficit to two, 49-47.

After Townsend was fouled and made both shots, the Tigers missed a triple of their own and followed that with a shot-clock violation. On the next trip down the court, Townsend backed in towards the basket and found Aletan for an alley-oop slam to make it 53-47 with six minutes on the clock.

Aletan found himself at the free throw line a minute later, but the big man missed both shots. On the next possession, Dalen challenged Simmons down low, eventually finding an opening for a successful layup.

With Yale up 53-49, Townsend backed Pierce close to the hoop, but the 2024 Ivy Player of the Year blocked the jumper and then drove passed Townsend on the other end for a layup that made it a two-point contest.

Coming out of the last media timeout, Poulakidas was sent to the free throw line, but he missed the front end of the one-and-one, and the ball ended up with Lee.

Davis eventually had the ball and looked to go through Simmons and Aletan, but he kicked it out to an open CJ Happy on the right baseline, and the first-year forward sank a triple to put Princeton ahead 54-53 with 3:29 left in the contest.

Aletan got the ball down low, but he was double-teamed and missed the layup. Davis hit the floor for the loose ball and got it over to Lee.

With six on the shot clock, Lee drew a double team and found Happy on the right elbow for another three. The shot went in and out, eventually falling to Townsend.

Both teams missed triples on their next possessions, so the ball was still with Yale with fewer than two minutes left in the second half.

Mbeng moved the ball up the court and was met by Lee.

The two All-Ivy first teamers went head-to-head, with Mbeng getting to the free throw line and launching a contested shot. Not only did the jumper go in, but the 2025 Ivy Player of the Year picked up the foul and made it a three-point play to give Yale the 56-54 lead.

Not to be outdone, Lee took it to Mbeng on the next possession and got a small bit of room on the right wing to launch a successful triple that put the Tigers back on top by one with 1:32 to go.

Poulakidas, with only four seconds remaining on the shot clock and guarded closely by Peters, his childhood friend and teammate from Illinois, launched an off-balance three from the right elbow, and it sailed through the bottom of the net to make the score 59-57 in favor of the Bulldogs.

On the Tigers’ next trip up the court, Pierce had the rock at the top of the key and the big man drove past three defenders near the foul line, with a clear path to the hoop. Instead of getting the layup that would put Princeton back on top, Aletan came across the right baseline to block the shot and direct it to Poulakidas.

With only a few seconds between the shot clock and game clock, Poulakidas expected the Tigers to foul, but it didn’t happen, and the senior held onto the ball as the shot clock expired.

“I was expecting them to foul just because there was only a three-second differential, shot clock and game clock,” Poulakidas told the media. “I should have been more cognizant of the shot clock. If I’m played in that position again, I will be.”

While the game clock showed only 3.6 seconds, the referees determined that there were actually 6.6 seconds remaining for Princeton’s last possession.

Davis got the inbounds near the Yale bench and he rushed past midcourt before calling a timeout with only 5.4 remaining in regulation.

The Tigers only needed a two but opted to go to Lee for the game-winner.

“(I) felt really good,” Henderson said. “Xavian’s won five games for us. I thought, that’s going in.”

Unfortunately for the Orange and Black faithful, this one was not to be.

Princeton maintained its strong two-point shooting with 55% (6-for-11) over the final 20 minutes, while improving its three-point effort to the tune of 38% (6-for-16). On the other side of the ball, the Tigers held their own on the boards and limited Yale to only 38% (6-for-16) from two, but the 38% (3-for-8) effort on the three-point line, which included Poulakidas’ game-winner, proved to be the difference in this closer than expected contest.

In the losing effort, Peters, speaking through tears in the post-game press conference, led the team with 14 points and four three-pointers, while Lee finished with 14 points and seven rebounds.

Not surprisingly, the Bulldogs were led by Townsend, who had a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double and four assists, Poulakidas, who had 13 points and three second-half triples, and Mbeng, who totaled 12 points and held Lee to 3-for-10 shooting from deep.

“The three-point play by Bez driving to the basket and John’s three … I can’t speak enough of how tough you have to be to be able to make those plays in those situations and not panic,” Jones said when asked about the talents of his All-Ivy triumvirate. “And you know, Nick, to my right, he was tremendous and steady the entire game and obviously gave us an opportunity (to win).”

With one game left in the Ancient Eight season, Yale will look to notch another season three-peat following its 103-88 win in Ithaca on February 8 and its 92-88 victory in New Haven on February 21. The game is sold out, but fans can catch the action on ESPN2 at 12 p.m. Sunday.