Yale Athletics

Over Thanksgiving recess, the Yale men’s basketball team (7–1) brought home some hardware from their trip to the U.S. Virgin Islands, where they won the Paradise Jam tournament last Monday.

The Bulldogs, coming off of their only loss of the season at home against the University of Rhode Island (6–2), got off the long flight on the heels of an uncharacteristically poor shooting night in their previous contest. Yale was looking to reset with a solid showing in the three-round mid-season festival.

“Being able to play the sport I love in such a beautiful setting was a truly unique experience that I’ll be forever grateful to have been a part of. We have a special group and definitely grew on this trip,” forward Daniel Ogunyemi ’29 wrote to the News. 

Their first opponent for the Bulldogs was the Horizon League’s University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (4–5). Led by junior Marcus Hall, who averages 16 points on 10 shots per game, the UWGB Phoenix have already matched their win total from last year’s nightmare season. 

A pair of threes from Hall put the Phoenix on top 6-5 with 16:48 to play in the first half, but a Samson Aletan ’27 layup on the next possession gave Yale the lead. 

The Elis did not relinquish the lead for the remainder of the game, though the next 36 minutes were not without drama. The teams exchanged buckets for the remainder of the first half, and Yale took a 39-30 lead into the locker room. 

Green Bay came roaring out of the break with a 7-0 run early in the period, cutting the deficit to just three points, 44-41. While the Bulldogs stabilized, they did not hold another double-digit lead until around the nine-minute mark, when another Aletan layup put Yale further out front, 58-48. 

The Phoenix remained at arm’s length for the next couple of minutes before showing new life in the game’s waning minutes. A pair of free throws from sophomore guard CJ O’Hara cut the Bulldog lead to just two points, 69-67, as the clock waned. An Isaac Celiscar ’28 layup iced the game, and Green Bay was unable to overcome Yale’s two-score lead. 

The game ended 73-67 in Yale’s favor. Nick Townsend ’26, Casey Simmons ’26, Aletan and Riley Fox ’28 all scored in double figures in the team effort victory.

With their win, the Bulldogs advanced to the tournament semifinals, where the College of Charleston Cougars (4–5) awaited them. Throughout the game, the Cougars never held the lead in a stellar performance from the Yale offense. Townsend’s 32 points were a personal best, and his nine rebounds tied his individual watermark. Eight of his points came in the first two minutes of action — two made threes and a layup on three consecutive possessions.

Charleston prevented any further explosive runs from the Eli offense, but the damage was done. The Yale offense proved too hot to handle, and the Bulldogs entered halftime with a 41-33 lead. 

The second half was similar, with Yale managing an 18-point lead entering the inside-of-12-minute media timeout. Charleston chewed away at the deficit from there on, but the Bulldogs had sufficient cushion to walk away with the win, 74-63.

On the other side of the bracket, the University of Akron Zips (6–2) demolished both teams in their path to face Yale in the tournament finals. Their explosive offense, led by seniors Tavari Johnson and Shammah Scott, as well as brothers Eric and Evan Mahaffey, has earned them a top-60 position in the Kenpom ranking — 20 places above Yale.

Right from the tip, the Bulldogs controlled the first half of play, keeping Akron firmly behind. As the clock struck zero on the half, Yale held a nine-point lead, 46-37.  Johnson accounted for a sizable portion of the Zips’ points in the first half, with six made field goals and a free throw summing to 14 points.

Akron tried to chip away at the lead in the next ten minutes of action, but with 10:26 remaining, Yale still held the lead, 70-62.  With 5:02 to play, the Zips had stormed back to tie the game at 80 apiece. Johnson spearheaded the comeback, having scored 29 points at this mark in the game.

The Bulldog shooters then heated up once more and hit a succession of timely threes. The Elis pulled ahead 89-84 with 2:47 left in the contest. Yale took what seemed to be a safe four-point lead inside 30 seconds, but a three from Akron’s Bowen Hardman at the nine-second mark pulled the Zips within one. 

Two clutch free throws from Trevor Mullin ’27 pushed the margin back to three. After a missed buzzer-beater three from Johnson, who finished with 35 points, the Bulldogs raised the Paradise Jam trophy. 

“It was really a huge team effort,” Mullin told the News. “Akron is a very good team with two very good scoring guards specifically, and we knew we had to try to limit them as much as we could and stop their team transition. Our defense was the key to winning that game, and we really buckled down as a team to get it done. It was a battle till the end, but we got it done.”

The Bulldogs’ impressive performance throughout the event drew praise from their competitors. 

“Playing 3 games in 4 days is hard, let alone winning all of them. I thought Yale was very impressive and has the chance to be a great team this year,” Green Bay manager Maddox Schomann wrote to the News.

After Thanksgiving, the Bulldogs were back to business on Sunday. The Vermont Catamounts (5–4) hosted Yale at the Patrick Gymnasium in Burlington. 

Both teams came out of the gate sluggish, with the first bucket coming with 18:08 on the clock. The Bulldogs trailed the Catamounts 7-5 with 14:38 to play. That deficit grew to 16-9 with 10:28 to go before Fox scored six straight points, pulling Yale within one. 

Yale cobbled together a 10-point 46-36 lead by the 14:43 mark in the second half. Just under nine minutes later, with 5:48 remaining, the teams were knotted at 59. Both squads converted chance after chance, with the Bulldogs going up 70-69 just inside the two-minute mark.

Fox then continued his stellar play by nailing a dagger three to put Yale up four, and the Bulldogs closed out the game 77-74. The sophomore scored 23 points off the bench.

The Elis have a busy week ahead, with home games Tuesday and Wednesday versus Division III schools SUNY Maritime (2–3) and Brandeis (3–4), respectively.