Home of the Roundball Poets
Richard Kent 22-for-22.
You read that right. Yale men’s basketball (6-1) was 22-for-22 from the free-throw line and held off a furious Akron (5-2) charge to win the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Tournament, 97-94, Monday night.
“I thought our guys were really connected against a really difficult opponent,” Yale coach James Jones said.
It was the Nick Townsend show Sunday evening at the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The senior forward posted a career-high 32 points plus eight rebounds to lead Yale into the tournament final with a decisive 74-63 win over the College of Charleston.
“They let him (Townsend) go one on one, and he took advantage of it,” coach James Jones said.
With the news that Alexander Lesburt Jr. is pulling a Caden Pierce at Brown men’s basketball, sitting out his senior season and entering the portal, the alarm bells are getting louder and louder.
First, as to Lesburt. He was expected to be a key player for Mike Martin after averaging 10.3 points and 3.6 rebounds per game last season and is a skilled three-point shooter. But he is no longer on the team, Brown announced Tuesday, noting he left the program to preserve his final year of eligibility.
Numerous Ivy players in basketball and other sports are exploring this three-year graduation route to obtain a coveted Ivy League degree and get another payday year elsewhere.
Yale men’s basketball took its first loss of the 2025-26 season Tuesday night at John J. Lee Amphitheater, squandering a 10-point second-half lead and falling tamely to KenPom No. 102 Rhode Island, 86-77.
The Rams (4-1) went on a 17-6 run to grab a 57-56 lead and hold off the Bulldogs (3-1). The visitors were more physical than Yale in the second half and outscored them, 46-31, in the frame.
“We did a poor job of getting back [on defense],” Yale coach James Jones said. “They have some quickness there [at guard].”
Yale men’s basketball was finally tested but survived a Stony Brook scare and hung on for an 86-79 win Saturday at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The Bulldogs (3-0) held a narrow 40-38 halftime lead over the Seawolves (3-1), who went 8-for-14 from three-point range in the stanza.
Yale was up 46-43 and then went on a 15-6 run, keyed by two threes by senior forward Nick Townsend.
Stony Brook cut the score to 74-70 at the 2:12 mark. Then junior guard Trevor Mullin hit a key trey and Yale never looked back.
Yale men’s basketball dispatched preseason MAAC favorite Quinnipiac (1-2) in Hamden, Conn. last night, 97-60. Yale (2-0) was down early and grabbed a 24-23 lead over the hosts (1-2) and the Bulldogs were off to the races.
“It was a great team performance. Our kids played really well together,” said coach James Jones.
Tip of the hat to the graduated John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng. BUt Nick Townsend and Riley Fox are now Yale men’s basketball’s leaders, and the rest of the Ivy League should be warned that the Bulldogs are still the team to beat after their 97-68 road trouncing of Navy to open their 2025-26 campaign.
If you were one of the 46 people tuned into the Ivy League’s men’s media day hosted by the Field of 68 and Rob Dauster and Jeff Goodman Tuesday, then you learned a lot on certain topics.
You know the difference between Boston and Cambridge. You are schooled in the athletic prowess of Goodman. You have a good feel about 2K games. You certainly know who the best dunkers are on most of the teams. You might be able to bet on Mitch Henderson winning a one-on-one basketball game. You were told that James Jones was once a great card player and was known as the professor. You even heard about a guard at The Palestra.
When a team loses arguably two of the top 10 players in its basketball history in John Poulakidas and Bez Mbeng, it is tough to believe that it would be the overwhelming favorite to win the Ivy League.
But don’t tell that to James Jones. You see, Yale merely reloads each season.
Call it what you want, leaderless or rudderless. That’s what some Ivy League coaches, alumni and donors are saying right now in droves. And it is spot on. Those terms apply to the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL compensation.
Nothing exemplifies this more than the recent Ivy mandate further restricting the ability of its student-athletes to receive NIL.