Liza Kaufman, Photography Editor

The Yale men’s basketball team (3–0) continued their hot start Saturday in their home opener at the John J. Lee Amphitheater in Payne Whitney Gymnasium, triumphing 86-79 over Stony Brook (3–1). 

The Bulldogs, who entered the game as 20-point favorites, found a worthy opponent in the Seawolves. Despite the strong showing by Stony Brook, the Elis were able to remain perfect on the season.

“You can’t overlook any opponent, especially coming into your place at home. There’s kind of an extra juice that you get to protect the house. But they’re a good team, and they executed well,” Riley Fox ’28 said in a postgame interview.

Fox scored 21 points on Saturday, shooting 50 percent from the three-point line in his 22 minutes. The sophomore has now made two-thirds of his shots from downtown — an Ivy-leading clip at this early point in the season. He also leads all of NCAA Division I in Box Plus/Minus, a metric that estimates how many points per 100 possessions an individual is above the average player.

Right from the opening tip, the game was a hard-fought battle. Isaac Celiscar ’28 scored the first points of the night with a tough and-one play. Yale jumped out to an early 21-11 lead at the 13-minute mark. Stony Brook, fueled by strong play from guards Erik Pratt, Collin O’Connor and Rob Brown III, chipped away at that lead. A three-pointer from Pratt knotted the game at 38 with 1:38 remaining in the first half, but a Samson Aletan ’27 layup gave the Bulldogs a two-point lead entering the half — a far cry from the 20-point difference projected on the afternoon. 

The Seawolves were carried in the first half by a hot streak from the field, having shot 57.1 percent from deep in the first 20 minutes and 59.1 percent overall on field goal attempts. The Bulldogs made adjustments during halftime, coming out noticeably more aggressive both defensively and on the glass. 

The renewed energy they showed in the second half, both offensively and defensively, is something Yale emphasizes in practice, players said.

“We guard each other very hard and very physically, to the point where sometimes we probably don’t get as many foul calls as we want in practice. Because of that, I think we end up being ready to be strong and pounding up in the game,” Casey Simmons ’26 explained.

The Eli offense scored 12 points in the first five minutes out of the break, and they held Stony Brook to just five points in the same timeframe. 

The Seawolves’ offense again began to show signs of life around the 13-minute mark, ignited by an Oleg Kojenets dunk. After a Stony Brook three and tough jumper, the Bulldogs needed to flip the momentum before their lead slipped away. Yale ran a play as the clock ticked inside 12:00 to get Fox a look from three, which caromed off the glass right toward the 7-foot Konjenets. Instead, a flying Celiscar came down with the offensive rebound and drew the subsequent foul on the Lithuanian center. 

Celiscar, who stands at a more reasonable 6 feet, 6 inches, had three offensive rebounds on the day. He is averaging 2.7 per game and 7.0 total rebounds, placing the sophomore sixth in the Ivy League for the statistic. 

“Growing up with four other brothers, that’s kind of what pushed me. My older brothers used to punk me all the time. They’re football players. They were way bigger than me. They all used to punk me, but really I just want it more than everybody, honestly,” Celiscar said in a postgame interview.

The Seawolves continued to put up a fight, but Yale retained its narrow lead for the remainder of the game. When the buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs won, 86-79. Fox led the Bulldogs in points, trailed closely by the team captain, Nick Townsend ’26. Along with his 19 points, he had a team-leading six assists and nine rebounds. Celiscar, Simmons and Aletan all scored in the double digits as well.

The Bulldogs now look ahead to Tuesday, when they will continue to defend home court against the University of Rhode Island (3–1).

“We’re excited. We lost to them last year, and I think the year before, so this is a redemption game for us,” Simmons said. 

Tip-off for the matchup is set for 8 p.m. following the conclusion of the women’s basketball team’s game against Quinnipiac.