The Yale Bulldogs are headed to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament after a wild finish to the Ivy League Championship Game against Brown on Sunday afternoon. The Bears, despite a 13-18 overall record, caught fire in the Ivy Tournament and looked like they would take the conference’s automatic bid to the Dance as they took a 60-54 lead with 27 seconds to play on a pair of free throw by Keno Lilly Jr.
However, free throws would become a problem for Brown down the stretch, as they only made one of their four attempts in the final 21 seconds of the game, allowing Yale to chip away at their lead with some clutch buckets. Still, Brown led 61-60 in the closing seconds and just needed a stop to send themselves to the NCAA Tournament, but Matt Knowling had other ideas. Knowling hit a little push shot at the buzzer off an assist from Bez Mbeng to send the Bulldogs dancing.
.@YaleMBasketball WITH THE GAME-WINNER AT THE BUZZER TO WIN THE IVY LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
Yale outscored Brown 8-1 in the final 22 seconds to win it by 1.
: @espn pic.twitter.com/XZZU1s9Emu
— CBS Sports College Basketball
(@CBSSportsCBB) March 17, 2024
This really is what conference tournament week is all about, as there’s just nothing quite like it. The stakes, especially in these smaller conference tournaments, are incredibly clear as a win sends you to the NCAA Tournament and a loss ends your season. For Brown, it was almost a Cinderella run through the Ivy League, but ultimately the 2-seed Yale was able to reel them in and give themselves a chance next week to keep their season alive.