There’s little doubt that the Ivy schedule- makers intended Yale-Princeton on the last day of the season to have an impact on the Ivy men’s title chase.
That would have made sense – the two most dominant programs over the last decade playing for the crown.
Things changed. Princeton suffered crucial injuries and defections. Yale played top-notch championship level basketball all season.
And on Saturday, the Bulldogs defeated Princeton, 78-53, at John J. Lee Amphitheater in a Senior Day clash.
Yale (23-5, 11-3 Ivy) only led by 32-30 at the half but poured it on in the second stanza.
“We got off to a great start and then splintered a bit as a group,” Yale coach James Jones said.
Yale opened the second half on a 12-3 run, which culminated in a junior center Samson Aletan dunk.
The lead grew to 58-39 on a senior forward Nick Townsend 9-foot hook shot and Yale never looked back.
Princeton (9-20, 5-9) never led.
Before the game, Yale honored its three seniors, guard Devon Arlington, Townsend and senior forward Casey Simmons. The trio started.
“Casey and Nick, the journey they have had here is amazing,” Jones said.
The senior class owns the record for most wins at Yale with 88 and counting.
Yale outrebounded Princeton 39-29 and won the points in the paint war, 32-18.
Townsend led Yale with 17 points and Simmons and junior guard Trevor Mullin added 14.
Yale owns the No. 1 seed in the Ivy tourney and as its reward gets to play Cornell at Newman Arena at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Harvard and Penn meet in the second game.
“We get a chance to fight through adversity,” Jones said.