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In a game that had the feel of a battle for third place in the Ivy League and a chance to avoid Princeton in the first round of the conference tournament, Harvard outlasted Yale, 65-59.
Feb. 26, 2016 was a long time ago – so long ago that no member of the Yale men’s basketball team was even enrolled at Yale.
As the calendar moves into February, we have reached the midpoint of the Ivy season. While this weekend brings the first back-to-back games of the season, Saturday night looks to be the more pivotal evening for the women’s division. Each game pits teams from the four tiers of the conference against one another.
As we near the halfway mark of the 2022 Ivy League season, here are five thoughts about the state of the race for the men’s league title:
PHILADELPHIA – Everyone at the Palestra knew what was at stake Saturday afternoon: the inside track on fourth place in the Ivies.
Down 12-2, starting power forward Michael Moshkovitz off the court with two quick fouls and a boisterous sellout Lavietes Pavilion crowd on top of them, things looked bleak for the Penn men as they made it to their bench for the first media timeout in Friday night’s nationally televised game at Harvard.
Fortunately, Steve Donahue settled his team and the Quakers bounced back for an important 78-74 road victory that has the Red & Blue at 5-2 (8-12 overall) halfway through the Ivy League schedule.
Tommy Amaker’s Crimson, meanwhile, left the court with their third loss in five league contests (10-7 overall).
When Denham Wojcik hit his first basket of the night to put Harvard up 11 with 6:50 remaining, the Crimson looked well on their way to beating Dartmouth and securing their second straight Ivy victory. Unfortunately, their travel partner got a second wind and cut the lead to one with the ball in Aaryn Rai’s hands for one last shot.
Sunday’s men’s basketball contest between Yale and Harvard at Lavietes Pavilion has been postponed due to COVID-19 concerns and safety protocols within Yale’s program, the schools and the Ivy League announced Saturday.
The game will be rescheduled for a date and time to be determined.
It’s the third straight game to be postponed due to COVID-19 concerns and safety protocols within Yale’s program dating back to Sun., Jan. 2.
In 13 previous games this season, Yale sophomore guard Elles van Der Maas had logged a total of 29 minutes in 10 appearances, scoring 29 points.
But Saturday against Harvard, the Sydney, Australia native exploded for a team-high 22 points in 25 minutes, helping lead Yale to a hard-fought 80-73 win over Harvard at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
That was half the story.
The Penn at Harvard men’s game originally slated for Fri., Jan. 28 at 5 p.m. has been rescheduled for Sat., Jan. 29 at 2 p.m., Penn Athletics announced Wednesday. The game will be nationally televised on ESPNU.