Ben Raab

Yale may have lost a battle, but the war is yet to begin. 

The Bulldogs (20–9, 11–3 Ivy) fell in overtime to Brown (12–17, 8–6) 84–81 on Saturday afternoon after Brown’s Aaron Cooley hit a fadeaway three with .5 seconds remaining. 

“You got to tip your hat to him,” Yale head coach James Jones said of Cooley’s last-second heave. “We played really good defense and didn’t give him a clean look. It was an off-balance, contested shot and the kid hit it.”

Jones’s squad, favored by 11.5 points entering the matchup, led 69–58 with 4:40 remaining in the game. With 35 seconds remaining, the Bears hit a corner-three to tie the game at 73-73. Cooley’s shot in overtime was Brown’s first and only lead of the game.

Guard August Mahoney ‘24 led the scoring for the Elis with 16 points. Yale’s offense looked in sync for most of the game, making quick cuts and routinely finding shooters for open looks. Five players finished with double-digit scoring performances. 

Defensively, however, Yale struggled to contain Brown’s Kino Lilly Jr., who finished with 26 points. Typically one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, the Bulldogs lost the rebounding battle 39–26, surrendering 16 offensive boards.

“We got our butts kicked on the glass,” Jones said. “They won the game because of what they did on the interior. It was a disappointing team effort.”

With the loss, Yale fell from 80 to 90th in the nation according to kenpom.com’s college basketball ratings, their biggest drop since losing to Fairfield on Dec. 6, which dropped them 20 spots at the time. 

Still, the loss has little impact on the season’s course. Yale entered the game tied with Princeton (23–3, 11–2 Ivy) for first place in the conference standings, but would have still been the second seed in the tournament due to Ivy League tiebreaker rules — which take each team’s NCAA NET ranking into account. 

Princeton, set to play against Penn at 6 p.m., is guaranteed the tournament’s first seed. If the Tigers lose, Yale would earn at least a share of the regular season Ivy title but still wind up second or third at Ivy madness. 

In any event, Yale will face Cornell (22–6, 11–3 Ivy), who would also earn a share of the title with a Princeton loss but will be the second or third seed in the tournament, depending on which team is ranked higher in the NET. The higher seed does not have any competitive advantage in the tournament, which this season will be hosted at Columbia. 

The Bulldogs defeated the Big Red 80–60 in the first round of last year’s tournament. Cornell, however, boasting an elite offense and a rapid style of play that ranks sixth fastest in the nation, is much improved from last season. This season, they’ve split the season series 1-1. 

“We have a lot to learn from this game,” Jones said. “And we’ll get a week of practice to start playing our best basketball again.”

Saturday’s game will tip off at 2 p.m. in Columbia’s Levien Gymnasium.