The future of center Greg Mangano ’12 and the Bulldogs’ season remains uncertain, but now Mangano knows that he will be able to suit up against top level collegiate talent at least one more time.
Mangano has accepted an invitation to play in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament in Portsmouth, Va., from April 11-14.
The tournament — now in its 60th year — allows college players hoping to pursue careers in professional basketball to show off their talents in front of scouts from all 30 National Basketball Association teams as well as from international leagues.
It’s traditionally been rich in talent. Rich Barry, Dave Cowens, Earl Monroe, Scottie Pippen and John Stockton all competed in the tournament at one point. All five were selected by the NBA as part of the 50 greatest NBA players of all time. Three players from last year’s tournament were selected in the 2011 NBA Draft. Tournament MVP Jimmy Butler from Marquette was the first-round draft choice of the Chicago Bulls, and in the second round, the Los Angeles Lakers picked up College of Charleston’s Andrew Goudelock, while Vernon Macklin of Florida was selected by the Detroit Pistons.
Former Harvard guard and current New York Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin participated in the tournament in 2010.
Yale’s seniors have played a combined 300 games in their college careers, but tonight they found a way to make their final home game stand out.
When the final buzzer sounded, Yale (19-7, 9-3 Ivy) had trounced Cornell (11-15, 6-6 Ivy) 71-41.
The four seniors- forward Rhett Anderson ’12, guard Brian Katz ’12, forward Greg Mangano ’12 and forward Reggie Willhite ’12 – were honored in a pre-game ceremony. Then they led the team to its best victory of the year.
Mangano led a balanced scoring effort with 16 points to go along with ten rebounds. Willhite scored eight points to go along with nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals.
Head coach James Jones said that he should get Willhite a cape, because he is Superman for the Elis in that he always does whatever is necessary.
The Bulldogs got off to an early lead and never let the Big Red back in the game. Forward Greg Kelley ’14 beat the buzzer with a straightaway to end the game. His basket gave Yale its largest lead of the night.
Cornell pressed for most of the game, but the Bulldogs only committed 11 turnovers and frequently broke the press for quick baskets.
Anderson was able to score on his senior night, knocking down two free throws to thunderous applause from the fans at Lee Amphitheater. Katz was unable to dress for the game. He has been limited to just two games this season after having double retina surgery.
With Harvard’s 55-54 loss to Penn tonight, Yale is now one game behind the Ivy League-leading Crimson going into the final weekend of regular season play.
Two weeks ago the Bulldogs overcame a large deficit at Columbia to clinch a one point victory. The Lions were unable to do the same in New Haven tonight.
Yale (18-7, 8-3 Ivy) held on to win 75-67 over Columbia (14-13, 3-8 Ivy) after coughing up a 20-5 lead in the first half.
After tying at five in the first two and a half minutes, the Elis scored 15 straight points. Forward Greg Mangano ’12 scored eight of those 15 points.
The Lions cut the Elis’ lead to 30-22 at the half, then tied it at 56 with 6:06 left in the second half.
Columbia guard Brian Barbour led the comeback on his way to 21 points and eight assists for the night.
The Bulldogs were hurt when Mangano and Jeremiah Kreisberg ’14 both got into foul trouble with four personal fouls, but Lion big men Mark Cisco and Corey Osetkowski both fouled out.
Mangano led the Elis with 22 points, and captain Reggie Willhite ’12 scored 20 for the Bulldogs. Guard Austin Morgan ’13 and forward Brandon Sherrod ’15 were also in double-digits with 14 and ten points, respectively.
Yale hit nine of ten free throws in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
Tonight Yale will host Cornell at the Lee Amphitheater at 7:00pm.
The Bulldogs can now count Princeton among their Ivy League victims after defeating the Tigers 58-54 at John J. Lee Amphitheater. With the triumph, Yale moved to 14-5 overall, 5-1 Ivy League.
In a game the Bulldogs led for all but 4:40, the conclusion was far from assured. When the Tigers (11-10, 2-3 Ivy) pulled to 53-51 with 1:08 remaining, the Elis showed great resolve to see out the victory that they deserved.
Yale took control of the game with an 11-0 run over seven minutes in the middle of the first half. The run saw the Bulldogs jump from a 10-10 tie to a commanding 21-10 lead, one that they never relinquished.
The victory was doubly important for the Elis as Jeremiah Kreisberg ’14, who had been underperforming in recent games, snapped out of his slump, tallying nine timely points and taking two important charges in the first half. Senior Greg Mangano turned in his usual stellar performance, amassing a double-double of 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The star of the win, though, was by all accounts captain Reggie Willhite ’12, who filled the stat sheet with a 20-point, nine rebound, three assist, one steal, one block performance. In addition, Willhite’s electrifying jam with 11:41 remaining in the game ensured that the Yale team stayed energized.
Princeton came to New Haven with high hopes, having won a one-game playoff with Harvard last year on Yale’s home court that sent the Tigers to the NCAA tournament. Even those fond memories could not propel Princeton to victory tonight. However, Ian Hummer, Princeton’s star forward, surpassed 1,000 points in his Princeton career with his third point of the game.
Next weekend, the Bulldogs will take on Cornell in Ithaca and Columbia in New York City.
Both games against archrival Harvard last year went down to the wire. Yale’s first game against the Cantabs this year was anything but a nailbiter.
Yale (12-5, 2-1 Ivy) shot just 31.7 percent on the way to a 65-35 drubbing by no. 23 Harvard (15-2, 3-0 Ivy). Forward Greg Mangano ’12 said that the Elis were disappointed in their performance.
“It’s embarrassing,” Mangano said. “That’s the word for it… we got embarrassed on our home court.”
In the first half, the Crimson showed why they are the fourth-best in Division I in points allowed per game. They held the Bulldogs to 6-20 shooting for 19 points before the break.
Perhaps more telling were the shots that weren’t taken. Guard Austin Morgan ’13 was held to only one shot and no attempts from beyond the arc, where he is a .442 percent shooter.
The Bulldogs held the Crimson starters to only 15 points, but Harvard’s bench contributed 15 first-half points to open up the lead. Freshman forward Steve Moundou-Missi led the way with eight points and two steals.
“We talk about the two “B” words for us thus far that have been outstanding for us — our bench and our balance” Amaker said. “That’s the key for us if we can continue to get solid contributions from our younger players and have balance out on the floor.”
The Cantabs played stifling defense to keep the Bulldogs at bay, but Yale helped Harvard on several occasions.
Mangano said that the team was “lackadaisical” on offense. The Bulldogs committed 22 turnovers.
“There were several turnovers that I still don’t know how we lost the ball,” Jones said. “We just fumbled it out of our hands with no pressure at all.”
Despite Harvard’s high-energy defense, Mangano still scored 17 points, but he had a season-low four rebounds. No other Bulldog had more than four points, whereas six Cantabs scored five or more points. Guard Laurent Rivard led the Crimson with 18 points.
In advance of tonight’s men’s basketball game against Harvard, we sent a few questions over to the Harvard Crimson’s basketball reporter and Sports Chair, Martin Kessler, to see what the Bulldogs can expect to see after tipoff.
1) What can Yale expect from Harvard tomorrow?
Harvard coach Tommy Amaker often talks about playing inside-out. The Crimson likes to establish forwards Kyle Casey and Keith Wright in the post early, and then kick it out to its shooters on the perimeter. But with Greg Mangano and Jeremiah Kreisberg patrolling the paint, it will be difficult for Harvard’s bigs to have their way. This means that a heavy burden will fall on the shoulders of wings Laurent Rivard, Christian Webster, and Oliver McNally. When they are hitting their shots, the Crimson is tough to beat. But when the shots aren’t falling (as was the case in the game at Fordham), Harvard is vulnerable to lose to any team, especially a talented team like Yale.
2) Is Keith Wright a legitimate threat to repeat as Ivy League Player of the Year?
Unless Wright starts averaging 20 and 10 the rest of the way, the answer is no (though I’d love to see Mangano’s reaction if he did). Wright’s role as the Crimson’s most important player hasn’t changed, but his numbers are down this year. With the addition of rookie forwards Steve Moundou-Missi and Jonah Travis, Harvard is much deeper down low resulting in fewer opportunities for Wright. Also, many of Harvard’s opponents have been keying in on Wright defensively, sending a number of 2-3 zones at the Crimson.
3) Who’s the unsung hero for the Crimson squad?
Oliver McNally may not put up jaw-dropping stats, but the co-captain’s importance to the Crimson should not be understated. McNally is Harvard’s vocal leader. When Harvard trailed St. Joseph’s at the half earlier this season, it was McNally who got the team fired up in the locker room. He can also knock down some threes, and when he does, he’ll let opposing fans know.
4) Can you please bring me a burger and s’mores malt from Mr. Bartley’s? (Post-game Wenzels on me)
This doesn’t sound like a fair exchange. Maybe if you throw in one of those steering wheel club things so my car doesn’t get stolen tomorrow night, I’ll consider it.
5) Now that any Harvard coach with any hope of a bright future in football has sought refuge in the friendly confines of the Yale Bowl, do you think that y’all will be able to keep up this streak of luck (and occasional blow-outs)?
As long as you don’t start stealing players, I think Harvard will be OK. Actually, I probably shouldn’t give you any ideas.
6) What is one thing that Harvard MUST do to beat Yale Friday?
Take out Mangano’s kneecaps. Or stay out of foul trouble.
7) Final score prediction:
I’m expecting this one to go down to the wire. The last two times that happened at John J. Lee, things didn’t turn out so well for the Crimson. But it’s a new year, and Friday night will be different. My prediction: 68-65 Harvard.
Facing defeat in their first game of Ivy League play in front of a home crowd, the Bulldogs pulled through and answered the call against Brown to win 68-64.
The victory came despite trailing the Bears for more than 35 minutes of the game.
Down 54-47 after Brown’s guard, Matt Sullivan, hit a lay-up with 7:44 to play, Yale (11-4, 1-0 Ivy) initiated its comeback. Brown (5-12, 0-1 Ivy) continued to hold off the Elis and milk the clock until guard Austin Morgan ’13 knocked down a three to make it 61-58 with less than three minutes remaining.
Head coach James Jones then made the decision to switch captain and defensive-stopper Reggie Willhite ’12 onto Bear guard Sean McGonagill – with immediate results. Willhite stole possession from McGonagill and slammed the ball home on the breakaway to cut the deficit to one with just 1:42 left to play. Jones qualified Willhite’s steal, however, pointing out that McGonagill played all 40 minutes of the contest.
“One reason why [Willhite] gets the steal and takes the ball away is the kid played 40 minutes,” Jones said. “The kid was a little tired.”
The captain continued to take control of the game, again stripping McGonagill and nailing a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 62-61 advantage. The lead was Yale’s first since 17:26 in the first half.
Guard Mike Grace ’13 and Morgan converted all six of their free throws in the last minute to preserve the win.
Yale wilted under Brown’s three-point barrage in the first half but kept the game close, trailing only 38-31 at the break. Brown shot 60 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, led by McGonagill’s perfect three-for-three. McGonagill led all scorers with 16 first-half points.
Despite featuring a much smaller front-court – junior forward Andrew McCarthy was the tallest starter at 6’8” – the Bears dominated the Elis on the glass. Brown outrebounded Yale 15-10 before intermission.
Yale will travel to Brown for a rematch next Saturday Jan. 21.
The women’s basketball team experienced an early exit from the Women’s National Invitational Tournament with an 85–61 first round-loss to Boston College on March 17 at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
It was the first time the Bulldogs had played in a postseason tournament since 1979 and their first-ever appearance in the tournament.
Yale (14–15, 10–4 Ivy) stayed competitive with BC for the beginning of the first half, but the Eagles (19–12, 5–9 ACC) used an 11–0 run to seize control of the game and build a 19-point lead at halftime. It was too big of a deficit to overcome in the second half, and BC left New Haven with a victory.
“I don’t think we knew exactly what we were getting ourselves into,” guard Allie Messimer ’13 said. “I don’t think we were ready to go out there with the same level of competitiveness that we needed to. That’s just what it came down to, we just weren’t ready to compete at the level that they were.”
Boston College guard Jaclyn Thoman led all scorers with 23 points. Forward Stefanie Murphy added 18 points and seven rebounds, while center Carolyn Swords finished with nine points and a game-high 11 boards.
Forward Janna Graf ’14 paced the Bulldogs with 15 points, four rebounds and three steals. Forwards Mady Gobrecht ’11 and Michelle Cashen ’12 tallied 10 and 11 points, respectively. Gobrecht also added five boards and four steals for Yale.
The Bulldogs took an early 3–2 advantage after guard Aarica West ’13 sank a three-pointer, but it would turn out to be Yale’s only lead of the game. Though the Elis were able to keep pace with the Eagles over the next eight minutes, BC used an 11–0 run to go up 30–15 at the 5:56 mark. The Eagles maintained control of the game for the remainder of the half and took a 47–28 edge into the locker room.
Boston College shot a scorching 70 percent (19 of 27) from the field in the first half and also outrebounded the Elis, 21–6.
“I think we allowed ourselves to be too intimidated by them at the beginning of the game,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said in a press release. “We didn’t attack them. If we had attacked them from the get-go, we might have been in the game, but we got too far behind.”
The Eagles only added to their lead after halftime and opened the second half by scoring six unanswered points to put the Bulldogs in a 25-point hole that they could not dig themselves out of. Though the Elis were able to trim the deficit to 58–40 after Mady Gobrecht knocked down two shots from the charity stripe with 9:35 left, that would be as close as they would get, as BC was able to maintain its offensive tempo and come away with the win.
The loss brought an end to one of the program’s most successful campaigns in years. Along with reaching the postseason for the first time in 32 years, the Elis also finished Ivy League play tied for second place with Harvard — their best final standing since the 1988-’89 season. The Bulldogs also completed a sweep of Harvard this season, a feat they had not achieved since the 1993-94 season.
“Coach G. said it best at the end of the game: you can’t let your last game define your season,” Messimer said. “We’re very happy with what we accomplished this year.”
After a thrilling weekend that included an emotional Senior Night victory over Harvard, 70–69, the men’s basketball team’s season will come to an end this Saturday in upstate New York.
The Bulldogs (14–12, 7–5 Ivy) will travel to the Big Apple for a Friday night matchup with the Columbia Lions (14–12, 5–7) before meeting the Cornell Big Red (8–18, 4–8) Saturday night in Ithaca. The Bulldogs will look to build off of the big Senior Night win over the Crimson last Saturday.
Last weekend, the Bulldogs hosted the Dartmouth Big Green and the Harvard Crimson for the last pair of games at the John J. Lee Amphitheater. Friday night, the Bulldogs and Big Green finished regulation tied at 65. In the overtime period, five crucial points from guard Isaiah Salafia ’14 helped the Bulldogs to a 79–75 win.
One night later, the Bulldogs hosted the visiting Crimson. Senior guards Porter Braswell ’11, Raffi Mantilla ’11 and Alfonso Costa ’11 were honored before the contest. A visiting, excited Harvard student section and a packed Yale student section sent verbal barbs back and forth in what proved to be an intense and exciting matchup.
With the teams tied at 66, Yale forward Reggie Willhite ’12 drove into the paint and made a layup to put the Bulldogs up two. But Harvard guard Christian Webster converted a three-point play to put the Crimson up one. On the ensuing Yale possession, a perfect pass from Willhite to forward Jeremiah Kreisberg ’14 led to a layup. On the last possession of the game, Harvard guard Brandyn Curry tried a shot that rolled off the rim. The team and students rushed the floor, and Yale left with a 70–69 win.
The Bulldogs will look to keep up the intensity of last weekend as they travel to Cornell and Columbia. The weekend begins with a matchup against the Lions. Noruwa Agho, a second-team All-Ivy League player last season, leads Columbia with 16.1 points and 4.4 assists. However, in the game at Yale early in the season, the Bulldogs held Agho to only six points and forced him to commit six turnovers.
After reaching the Sweet Sixteen last season, former Cornell head coach Steve Donahue left for Boston College, and six of its seven leading scorers were lost to graduation. This season, the Big Red got off to a slow start, but they have surged as of late. The Bulldogs know they cannot take Cornell lightly, as last time these two teams matched up, Yale overcame a ten point deficit in the final two minutes to pull out a 71–70 victory.
This season, guard Chris Wroblewski has led Cornell, averaging 14.3 points and 5.7 assists. Teammate Drew Ferry led the Big Red with 18 points in their loss to Yale.
Regardless of the outcomes this weekend, the Bulldogs’ season will come to an end. With first and second place out of reach, the Bulldogs are playing for third place in the Ancient Eight. The Ivy League is the only conference in Division I basketball that does not conduct a postseason men’s basketball tournament, and Yale head coach James Jones thinks that this is a problem.
“Every game we’ve played in the League has been nine or less points,” head coach James Jones said. “That being said, it would be a great year to have a tournament because there are so many teams so close to each other, but que será, será.”
Without a tournament, the Elis will try to close with two wins. The Bulldogs’ matchup with Columbia will tip off at 7 p.m. Friday night. The team will then finish its season against Cornell on Saturday night at 7 p.m.
The women’s basketball team has not earned a postseason berth in 32 years. This weekend, the Elis have a chance to end that drought.
The Bulldogs (13–13, 9–3 Ivy) will take on Columbia (6–20, 5–7) tonight and Cornell (6–20, 3–9) tomorrow in their last weekend of the season.
The Elis currently sit in second place in the Ivy League standings after sweeping Harvard and Dartmouth last week and the team still has a shot to claim the Ivy League title. Yale would need to win both of its games this weekend, and first-place Princeton (21–4, 10–1) would have to drop two of its last three games to force a playoff match between the two teams for the Ancient Eight crown.
Still, the Bulldogs can secure second-place in the conference and the Ivy League’s automatic bid to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) with a sweep this weekend. The last time Yale competed in a postseason tournament was in the 1978-’79 season.
“We have something to play for,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said in a press release last Saturday. “We have the possibility of postseason play. We have to take care of business [this] weekend.”
The Elis’ playoff push begins tonight with a matchup against Columbia. The Lions enter the contest coming off a weekend split, defeating Penn 61–54 on Friday night, before falling 65–52 to Princeton on Saturday.
The Bulldogs will be looking to avenge the 67–57 road loss they suffered at the hands of the Lions earlier this season. Though the Elis were able to keep pace with Columbia throughout the first half, the Lions used a second half offensive surge to take control of the game and come away with the win.
Yale leads the all-time series against the Lions, 34–15.
The next day, the Elis will host Cornell on Senior Night. The Bulldogs will honor their two seniors, captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11 and forward Mady Gobrecht ’11, prior to tip-off.
The Big Red has struggled this season and had lost eight consecutive games before snapping that streak with a 57–51 win over Penn last Saturday. The Elis took the first game of the season series against Cornell on Feb. 4, as Mady Gobrecht scored 18 points and Megan Vasquez ’13 added 14 to lead Yale to a 57–49 win in Ithaca, N.Y.
Yale holds a 42–22 edge in the all-time series against Cornell.
Tip-off for both games is slated for 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
The women’s basketball team achieved a trio of sweeps this weekend: a weekend sweep, a Dartmouth sweep and a Harvard sweep.
The Bulldogs (13–13, 9–3 Ivy) defeated Dartmouth (7–18, 3–8) on Friday night and Harvard (16–9, 8–3) the next day, repeating the sweep that they completed on Feb. 11 and 12 at home.
The two wins lifted the Elis up to second place in the Ivy League standings with just two games left in the season. Yale currently trails first-place Princeton (21–4, 10–1) by one-and-a-half games.
The Elis kicked off the weekend in Hanover, N.H., where they used a strong defensive and shooting performance to power past Dartmouth and earn a 70–45 victory.
“When we’re hitting on all cylinders like that, we’re really tough to beat,” head coach Chris Gobrecht said. “We were really committed to getting the job done defensively, and we also knocked some shots down, so that’s a tough combination.”
Forwards Mady Gobrecht ’11 and Ericka von Kaeppler ’13 each scored 13 points to lead the Bulldogs. Gobrecht also added six rebounds and six assists. Forward Michelle Cashen ’12 grabbed a game-high 10 boards and scored eight points, while guard Allie Messimer ’13 finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
The Elis shot 42.2 percent from the field in the contest and also won the battle of the boards by a 49–32 margin.
Guard Faziah Steen paced the Big Green with 12 points and three assists, but the Dartmouth squad shot just 27.8 percent from the floor in the effort. The Bulldogs opened the game by sinking three consecutive three-point shots to jump out to an early 9–0 lead at the 14:37 mark.
Four minutes later, Cooper hit a jumper that narrowed the deficit to 15–7, but the Elis responded by scoring nine unanswered points to go up 24–7 with 5:40 left in the half.
Still, the Big Green battled back and went on a 9–4 run to cut Yale’s lead to 28–16. But captain Yoyo Greenfield ’11 drained back-to-back three-pointers to give the Bulldogs an 18-point advantage at the 1:29 mark — a margin it brought into the locker room at halftime.
“I think we played really good defense, and we forced a lot of turnovers, which turned into fast breaks,” Greenfield said. “We really pushed the ball tonight, and everyone also shot well, so that helped a lot.”
The Bulldogs continued to be the dominant team throughout the second half and pushed their lead to as high as 30 points after guard Aarica West ’13 sank a shot from beyond the arc at the 5:16 mark.
Though the Big Green closed out the game with a 6–1 run over the final 4:30, it could not overcome the deficit, and the Elis were able to come out with their second win over Dartmouth this season.
“I think it’s a great time to be reaching our peak and playing as well as we can be, especially going into [Saturday]’s game and our last two games,” Greenfield said. “It gives us confidence, and we’re all really pumped about tomorrow night.”
The next day the Bulldogs traveled to Cambridge for a showdown with archrival Harvard. The Bulldogs used a strong first half to build a 10-point lead at halftime and made clutch plays in the second half to stay in control of the game and come away with a 78–64 win.
It was the first time the Elis had won at Cambridge since 2001 and the first time they had swept the season series since 1994.
“This win is awesome,” Vasquez said. “It means so many things. It was an emotional win that put us at .500 for the season, and we’ve swept Harvard. It’s been a long time since our program could say that.”
Vasquez recorded 23 points to lead all scorers and also added seven rebounds in the effort. Cashen totaled 17 points and eight boards, while forward Janna Graf ’14 tallied 13 points. West chipped in with seven points, nine rebounds, six assists and six steals.
The Bulldogs also won the battle of the boards for the second night in a row, outrebounding the Crimson 40–33.
Harvard was led by forward Emma Markley, who finished with 17 points. Guards Victoria Lippert and Brogan Berry added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
The game started off with both teams trading baskets for the first four minutes of the contest. But the Elis took control of the game after a layup from Gobrecht gave the them their first lead of the game and sparked a 19–4 run that gave Yale a 27–10 edge with 8:47 left in the half.
The Crimson countered with six unanswered points to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 27–16, but Messimer sank a shot from downtown to end the run and push Yale’s advantage up to 14 at the 3:15 mark. Still, Harvard closed out the first half with back-to-back layups from Elise Gordon that pulled the Crimson within 10 points at halftime.
Harvard continued to battle in the second half and went on an 11–3 run to reduce the deficit to four points with 8:28 left on the clock. But Vasquez came through for the Elis and drained a three-point shot and converted a three-point play to give Yale a 53–43 edge.
“I wasn’t really paying attention to the score,” Vasquez said. “I was just trying my hardest to attack the Harvard defense. I knew that they were vulnerable on transition defense, so I took advantage of the opportunity.”
The Crimson pulled within six points after Lippert hit a shot from beyond the arc with 1:14 left on the clock, but they would get no closer, as the Elis knocked down the shots they needed from the charity stripe to maintain their lead and emerge with the 78–64 victory.
“Beating Harvard anytime is a pretty cool thing, and to be able to do it twice in one year is pretty special,” coach Gobrecht said “It’s a compliment to them that it’s a big deal, that’s how much success their program has had. That’s kind of where the bar is, so you feel really good when you’re able to measure up.”
The Elis close out the season this weekend when they host Columbia and Cornell. Both games are scheduled for tip-off at 7 p.m. at John J. Lee Amphitheater.
