Yale men’s basketball played its first February out-of-conference game since 1957 Monday night.
The result was memorable: an 87-81 overtime defeat of Howard at The Burr in Washington.
A sophomore guard Jordan Brathwaite trey as time ran out in regulation sent the game into overtime knotted at 71.
“It was just a really gutsy performance by us,” Yale coach James Jones said. “I will take the hit on this. We didn’t prepare our team enough to play offense against the matchup zone.”
Yale (18-4) controlled most of the first half despite cold shooting from long range and led 38-32 at intermission. The visitors outrebounded the Bison 22-12.
A junior guard Cam Gillus triple gave Howard the lead at 54-53.
Another Gillis trey made it 62-59 Bison.
Junior guard Cedric Taylor III made it 66-62 from long distance for the home team.
Two free throws by Yale senior forward Nick Townsend cut the deficit to 69-68, and the Brathwaite theatrics sent the game into overtime.
Howard (15-10) had to play the extra session without Taylor, who fouled out. Taylor entered the game as the second-leading Howard scorer at 16.5 points per game and was averaging 25 per outing over the last three contests.
A junior center Samson Aletan old-fashioned three-point play gave Yale an 81-76 lead which sealed the deal in overtime.
Junior guard Trevor Mullin, on a tear of late, led Yale with 23 points. Townsend added 18 and Aletan snared a game-high 14 rebounds.
Yale committed 15 turnovers which led to 13 Howard points but won the rebounding battle, 43-28.
Yale plays at Dartmouth at 7 p.m. Friday.
Jones was announced by Yale Athletics to be a winner of the Joe Lapchick Character Award, named after the famous former St. John’s coach and given to those who have shown honorable character throughout their careers. Jones will be honored at a luncheon on Sept. 18 in New York, per Yale Athletics.
Yale sure looked like they were done, but were saved by Braithwaite’s improbable 3 pointer. Howard seemed to deflate after that and Yale looked strong in the OT session. This team plays its best when the chips are down.
Congratulatioins to Coach Jones. Any accolades are well deserved.