PRINCETON, N.J. -- Top-seeded Yale scored the first 12 points out of halftime and never looked back, cruising to an 80-60 victory over Cornell in the Ivy League Men's Basketball Tournament semifinals on Saturday afternoon at Princeton's Jadwin Gymnasium. The Big Red closed its season at 17-11, while the Bulldogs (21-7) advance to play the  winner of the Penn-Princeton semifinal for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday at noon.

Cornell struggled from beyond the arc, connecting on just 8-of-30 shots from distance in the loss. Guy Ragland Jr. and Chris Manon tied for a team high with 12 points, with Manon breaking the men's tournament record with his four steals. As a team, the Big Red had 11 steals among the 14 turnovers it forced. Greg Dolan added nine points in his final game in a Big Red uniform, dishing off two assists and grabbing three rebounds without a turnover. Cornell got valuable minutes off the bench from Josh Baldwin, who had four points, six rebounds, three steals, two assists and a blocked shot.

While the Big Red struggled from 3-point range, John Poulakidas of Yale could hardly miss. The sophomore connected on 6-of-7 shots from beyond the arc on his way to 25 points along with seven rebounds and five assists. August Mahoney also hit  on 4-of-6 shots from beyond the arc as Yale made 10-of-16 for the game. Mahoney ended the afternoon with 18 points, while Bez Mbeng had 13. The Bulldogs shot 48 percent overall and blocked seven shots - four by EJ Jarvis, who also had nine points and four boards.
   

First Half

• Cornell got off to a great start, converting a steal in the backcourt after the opening tip into a dunk by Manon, followed by a Nazir Williams 3-pointer a minute in.
• The Big Red's energy was obvious, as tipped passes and a 10-second violation highlighted the first 10 minutes. 
• A 3-pointer and a drawn charge by Ragland allowed Cornell to lead 8-5 at the first media timeout. 
• Yale started to stretch the lead over the final eight minutes of the half, as Mahoney and Poulakidas hit two 3-pointers apiece to put the Bulldogs up 25-19. 
• The top seed built its lead to nine (32-23) with under three minutes remaining in the first half before Cornell punched back.
• A Dolan 3-pointer after a Josh Baldwin offensive rebound, then a Baldwin putback on a Big Red miss, made it a 34-28 game with a minute to play.
• Cornell got a defensive stop, with Dolan then finding Ragland for his third 3-pointer of the half.
• The Big Red got a second stop, but could not hit a late jumper and went into the break trailing 34-31.
 

Second Half

• Though Cornell was in good position at the break, Yale quickly took control back.
• A 12-0 run over the first 2:11 saw Yale 5-of-6 shots to Cornell miss its first eight, including five from beyond the arc.
• A Baldwin putback made it an 11-point game, but Poulakidas again answered the bell.
• His two 3-pointers in the span of 38 seconds put Yale up 17 and Cornell never got within 13 the rest of the way.
• Sean Hansen's bucket with 8:18 left cut the Bulldog lead to 61-48, but Yale answered with a 14-2 run to go up 25 with under four minutes to play. 

With the season complete, the Big Red will get back to work for the 2023-24 season beginning in October and will attempt to replace graduating seniors Greg Dolan, Marcus Filien and Chuks Uzoka.