Christina Lee, Head Photography Editor
Follow along for live updates as Yale plays Cornell in Providence, Rhode Island for this year’s Ivy League championship — the victor of which earns a spot in the championship game.
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Second half, 7.0 seconds remaining | Yale 89, Cornell 81
Mbeng goes to the line to finish the game – as the crowd chants “MVP.”
Second half, :21 remaining | Yale 89, Cornell 80
Cornell misses a layup. Poulakidas is sent to the line to make it a nine point lead. He has 25 points for the night.
Second half, :33 remaining | Yale 87, Cornell 80
Cornell’s Nazir Williams takes the open lane to the layup to cut the deficit to five points. Another foul sends Simmons to the line. He makes both!
Second half, :58 remaining | Yale 83, Cornell 78
The crowd is shouting “Take Our Glasses” at the referees, with yet another foul called, this time against Yale. The game has slowed to a snail’s pace with free throws on both ends. Cornell uses up their final timeout.
Second half, 1:07 remaining | Yale 83, Cornell 76
Another foul from Cornell in the paint sends Townsend to the line for two. He has 18 points for the night, with four assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 1:20 remaining | Yale 82, Cornell 76
Yale are slowing the game down, taking their time with each possession. A frustrated Okereke reaches in for the steal from Mbeng and picks up his fifth. He has fouled out of the Ivy Madness Final.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 2:22 remaining | Yale 80, Cornell 72
Mbeng makes the layup, as Yale maintains their eight point lead over the Big Red. Cornell at the free throw line.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 4:42 remaining | Yale 76, Cornell 68
Poulakidas, Poulakidas, Poulakidas. Saying it thrice, for he has hit his fifth three in the second half, having missed just the one in the period. Yale is shooting an otherworldly 59.1% from the three-point line – they are 63.6% from the free throw line.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 6:10 remaining | Yale 71, Cornell 65
Okereke has picked up his fourth and checks out of the game. Huge blow to the Big Red as the forward is leading the game’s scoring with 20 points. The three point shooting continues – as Cornell makes another to keep the game within reach.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 7:43 remaining | Yale 66, Cornell 62
This game has turned into a three point shooting clinic, with six straight made threes from both teams. The Bulldogs have picked up their sixth team foul of the half. One more will put Cornell in the bonus.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 11:10 remaining | Yale 57, Cornell 50
Cornell has clawed their way back into this game with an 11-2 run triggered by the technical foul altercation. Three straight treys have aided their cause of a comeback. Even after those, Cornell is shooting 31.8% from the three point line in the game, far below their 39.3% season average. By comparison, Yale is making threes at a 47% clip.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 12:34 remaining | Yale 55, Cornell 41
Simmons picks up a technical foul for complaining about a foul called against him
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 12:44 remaining | Yale 55, Cornell 39
Mbeng fights for the offensive rebound, and comes away with another personal foul on Okereke! The Cornell player now has three. Poulakidas hits his third consecutive three to put the Bulldogs up 17.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Second half, 16:29 remaining | Yale 47, Cornell 34
Poulakidas is heating up! The senior guard hit his first three of the game and then followed it up with the jumper. Yale gets two consecutive stops and goes up 13.
HALFTIME | Yale 37, Princeton 32
Yale will go into the break with a five point lead over Cornell.
The Big Red began the game with the blistering pace they have kept up all season. But Yale’s defense played themselves into the game, and for the last five minutes of the half, the Cornell offense sputtered, coming up with just four points.
On the other hand, Yale’s season-long star Bez Mbeng has etched his handprint all over the game, with nine points, five rebounds, and two assists. Earlier in the season, Mbeng notched the second ever triple double in Yale’s program history against Cornell in Ithaca. Other standout Bulldog performers in the first half have been Casey Simmons and Nick Townsend.
The Bulldogs must be wary of Cornell’s AK Okereke in the second half, who dominated Dartmouth in the semi-finals yesterday with 25 points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals, and four blocks. Worryingly for Yale, AK Okereke scored a season-high 30 points in the last encounter between the Bulldogs and the Big Red. That said, Yale won that game by four points – with a last minute block on Okereke by Simmons.
Former Yale president Peter Salovey is in attendance today. At halftime, he told Yale WYBC radio that the game “has looked very physical to me.”
First half, 1:21 remaining | Yale 37, Cornell 28
Cornell coach Jon Jacques is forced to take a timeout as Yale’s rampage continues. They are now on a 12-0 run, with the Big Red having been held scoreless for almost three and a half minutes.
First half, 2:09 remaining | Yale 35, Cornell 28
Yale has its first lead of the game as Guard Bez Mbeng knocks down a three and first-year forward Isaac Celiscar hits an and-one layup.
First half, 3:45 remaining | Yale 26, Cornell 28
Yale is all over the Big Red offense right now, as they force a shot clock violation. Simmons appeared to be in pain after an earlier foul call against him, but it seems he will continue.
First half, 4:45 remaining | Yale 25, Cornell 28
After grabbing his fifth rebound of the game, Mbeng ran the length of the court before slicing the Cornell defense for a pass to Aletan, who made the resulting free throw. But Aletan has now checked out of the game after a hard foul on Cornell’s Ak Okereke yielded his his second personal.
First half, 7:13 remaining | Yale 20, Cornell 20
Simmons has tied it up! He now has three of Yale’s last four made field goals.
First half, 11:41 remaining | Yale 11, Cornell 16
Celiscar splits the free throws at the line. Cornell would be wary of their players getting into foul trouble early. Senior Nazir Williams has racked up two personal fouls less than halfway through the first period.
First half, 13:18 remaining | Yale 8, Cornell 13
Yale will want to put the brakes on Cornell’s frantic pace – the Big Red ranked within the top six nationally in offensive pace for each of the past four years. They are off to the races in this final.
First half, 16:22 remaining | Yale 5, Cornell 11
Townsend drives into the lane and gets the and-one. Freshman Isaac Celiscar checks in.
First half, 18:00 remaining | Yale 0, Cornell 3
A scrappy start so far for Yale, with three consecutive missed field goal attempts. Good hustle from Townsend results in a jump ball.
First half, 20:00 remaining | Yale 0, Princeton 0
Bez Mbeng ’25, John Poulakidas ’25, Casey Simmons ’26, Nick Townsend ’26 and Samson Aletan ’27 are Yale’s starting five.
No changes to the starting lineup from Head Coach James Jones for the Ivy Madness Final.
– Pranava Dhar, Staff Reporter
Game day, 9:30 AM
Cornell defeated Dartmouth 87–71 yesterday, meaning the Bulldogs will square off with the Big Red today at noon in the Ivy League Championship. Yale has defeated Cornell twice this year.
– Spencer King, Senior Reporter
