PRINCETON, N.J. - Yale and Princeton both used second-half surges to advance past the semifinals in the 2023 Ivy League Men’s Basketball Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The duo is set to square off in the championship game for the second time in as many seasons.
 
Tomorrow’s finale is scheduled to tip off at 12:00 p.m. from Jadwin Gymnasium at Princeton and will be shown on both ESPN2 and ESPN+.
 
Yale 80, Cornell 60
 
The defending Ivy League Champion Bulldogs of Yale moved one step closer to a repeat appearance in the NCAA Tournament, riding a dominant second-half performance to victory.
 
Cornell kept things interesting in the opening half, turning its defense into offense with an 11-0 edge in points off turnovers and trailing by just three points, 34-31, at the break.
 
Yale broke open a relatively close contest early in the second half with a 12-0 run, hitting its first five shots of the period and shooting 53.6 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes, to down Cornell.
 
The fourth-seeded Big Red got 12 points each from Chris Manon and Guy Ragland Jr., but Cornell shot just 33.3 percent from the floor, including 26.7 percent from deep, as a team.
 
Sophomore John Poulakidas showed off his shooting prowess for Yale, going 6-of-7 from 3-point range to lead all players with 25 points. Poulakidas also chipped in seven rebounds and five assists, while fellow guard August Mahoney followed with 18 points of his own.
 
Princeton 77, Penn 70
 
Ivy League Rookie of the Year Caden Pierce was sensational in the second semifinal contest, finishing with 14 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks to lead second-seeded Princeton into the championship game.
 
Princeton rebounded from a one-point halftime deficit, 31-30, to outscore Penn 47-39 in the second half as Tosan Evbuomwan scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the frame. Evbuomwan went toe-to-toe with Ivy League Player of the Year Jordan Dingle who scored just eight points in the second half, but led the Quakers with 19 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the floor.
 
The second half of play featured seven total lead changes and a multitude of ties, including the final at 65-65 with 5:29 to play. The lead changed hands three more times over the next three minutes as back-to-back layups from Pierce and Evbuomwan put the Tigers in front for good at 71-68.