Yale men’s basketball downed Albany, 93-82, in the MGM Springfield Basketball Hall Of Fame Classic in Springfield Wednesday to become the first team in the country with 11 wins. Yale (11-1) entered the game against Albany (3-8) tied with Duke at 10.
“I thought that the game went along pretty much as I thought it would,” coach James Jones said. “They (Albany) were really patient.”
Yale went on a 19-4 run to close out the first half and broke open a tight contest, which saw 16 lead changes and five ties. Early on, Yale struggled with the Albany 2-3 and shifting zones.
Albany has yet to defeat a Division I team and has a 93-65 defeat to Columbia on its ledger.
Yale led by as many as 19 in the second half, but a Great Dane surge, keyed by 7-for-8 shooting, cut the Yale lead to 87-76.
The Bulldogs were paced by sophomore guard Jordan Brathwaite and senior forward Casey Simmons with 16 points each. Brathwaite’s tally was a career-high. Junior center Samson Aletan had 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Yale entered the game sixth in the country in free-throw shooting and hit on 26 of 34 foul shots Wednesday. Albany was only 7-for-19 from the charity stripe.
Yale was plus-20 in rebounding.
Yale faces its toughest season challenge on paper at 8 p.m. on Dec. 29 at No. 12 Alabama.
my family and I were among the miniscule number of Yale fans at this Hall of Fame Classic game. Albany came fully prepared with not only their team but cheerleaders, band, dance team and mascot. They gave Yale fits for the first part of the first half at both ends, but the Elis figured it out and pulled away. The final score was deceptive as the Great Danes hit a bunch of 3s in the last two minutes and continued fouling long after the outcome was decided, extending the game despite Yale trying to use the clock to close it out.
What I like about this team is that they have alot of weapons and are not dependent on one or two players carrying them on offense. Wednesday was a good example. Nick Townsend did not have a huge game, but Simmons and Braithwait did and the Bulldogs had 6 players in double figures plus two more scoring. This may be the deepest team that Coach Jones has had.