CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The second-seeded Yale Bulldogs came up with a huge defensive stop in the winding seconds for a 66-64 win over top-seed Princeton. Yale punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament and claimed the Ivy Madness Tournament Championship. 

Yale advances to its sixth NCAA Tournament in program history and improves to 19-11, while the Tigers fall to 23-6. 

Azar Swain tallied a game-high 23 points and six rebounds, followed by Bez Mbeng’s double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds. Matt Knowling added 12 points for the Bulldogs. 

For Princeton, Tosan Evboumwan recorded a team-best 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Jaelin Llewellyn and Ethan Wright added 18 and 15 points, respectively. Both teams shot an identical 80% from the free throw line. From the floor, Yale shot 24-for-52 (46.2%) and Princeton went 25-for-61 (41%). 

In a back-and-forth early start, a pair of Yale buckets gave the Bulldogs an 11-6 lead at the 15-minute mark in the first half. Another 8-2 Bulldog spurt over a nearly three-minute span gave Yale a 24-14 lead with 10:25 left in the half. Princeton, however countered with a 6-0 run and trailed by only four after a Drew Friberg three. At the half, Yale held on to a 7-point lead (32-25). 

Yale erupted with an 11-point lead to open the second half in the first four minutes of play, but Princeton responded with a three that preceded a 7-0 run. At the 11:28 mark, Princeton made it a one-possession game on a Wright three. Two-straight Yale threes extended their lead to 51-43 with just under nine minutes to go. 

Five-straight Princeton points made it a 58-53 game, but the Bulldogs answered and stayed ahead by five (64-59) on a pair of Knowling free throws with under a minute to go. Back-to-back threes from Llewellyn and Wright made it a 66-64 game after Yale’s Mbeng knocked down a pair from the charity stripe. In the final seconds, Yale forced a turnover and got the ball. Despite Princeton’s Llewellyn getting a steal with two seconds left, his heave came up short and the Bulldogs claimed the tournament title.

• Yale’s sixth NCAA Tournament berth comes as the program’s first since 2016, where they defeated No. 5 seed Baylor. 

• The Bulldogs claim their third tournament title in the last five opportunities. 

• Azar Swain’s 23 points marked his third-straight 20-plus point performance. 

Yale guard Azar Swain, Yale forward Matt Knowling, Princeton forward Tosan Evbuomwan, Penn guard Jordan Dingle and Cornell's Sarju Patel were named to the all-tournament team. Swain was tabbed the most outstanding player.