Men's basketball looks to extend 3-0 Ivy record

With 1:38 remaining the game against Brown on Fri., Jan. 19 and his team up 62-60, Neil Yanke, MC '01, stood at the line for his second free throw, hoping to swing a game that had the back-and-forth tension of a three-minute baseline rally between Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Yanke clanked the attempt, but teammate Ime Archibong, TD '03, recovered the loose ball and dished it to Paul Vitelli, MC '04, who was camping out in the corner for a three that could have drowned the opponent. As he lifted to release his shot, however, Vitelli saw that Yanke had slid from the free throw line into a crease in the defense, and the freshman zinged his captain a pass. Brushing through contact, Yanke pushed the ball towards the front of the rim, where it perched perilously on the outside of the cylinder before he wrestled it through the net. The dunk (and foul) transformed the crowd from a Dick Cheney lecture audience into the Cameron Crazies at a Duke/North Carolina game. A jubilant Yanke thrust his arms into the air, let out a cathartic scream, and allowed his teammates to drape themselves over his 6'11'' frame in celebration.

JULIA TIERNAN/YH Men's basketball looks to continue its undefeated streak in the Ivy League.

The Bulldogs went on to win the game 66-61, placing them solely atop the Ivy League standings at 3-0. Yanke's dunk served as the perfect culmination for his heroic performance down the stretch, which erased the frustration of a foul-plagued three-game stretch and many near misses during the contest. For the first 30 minutes, Yanke missed three short lay-ups and showed his frustration by staring angrily at the scoreboard. Whether it was an explosion due to his aggravation or a few lucky bounces, Yanke changed his fortune in the game's final quarter, scoring nine points, hauling in four rebounds, and blocking one shot. His end-game performance crystallized the potential that lies embedded in him.

"Neil is the captain and leader of this team," Scott Gaffield, JE '04, said. "It was real big lift to get a strong finish from him." Yanke's dunk overshadowed two of the Elis' remarkable accomplishments—winning without their star backcourt (Chris Leanza, SY '03, and Archibong, scored only 12 points), and stopping Ivy-leading scorer Earl Hunt '03. In his first game after winning Ivy Player of the Week honors, Archibong was held to two points, mainly because of the fouls he accumulated while guarding Hunt. Leanza struggled to find open looks against Brown's defense, which made a point of having a perpetual hand in the guard's face. While most would have expected a Brown win if told that Yale's backcourt would score only 12 points, Coach James Jones was not surprised at the success of the other players.

"We do not to have to rely on any one person," Jones, who has his second 3-0 start in as many years on the job, said. "You cannot say, `If you stop Chris Leanza or Ime Archibong, you are going to beat Yale.' We have a great deal of depth, which is why we will be a tough team to match up against the rest of the season."

Two players who assumed the scorer's roles on Fri., Jan. 19, were a pair of freshmen, Vitelli and Matt Minoff, BR '04. Vitelli, named Ivy Rookie of the Week, notched 13 points, four rebounds, and three assists. While his team struggled at times in the first half, Vitelli kept Yale in the game with 11 first-half points. Minoff also provided the Elis with some punch, scoring 12 points, including two three pointers.

The freshman duo, along with Archibong, also combined to clamp down on Hunt, Brown's prolific scorer who led the league in points last year and paces the conference so far this season at 21.6 ppg. The 6'5'' guard entered New Haven having scored 20 or more points in each of his last six games, but on Friday night, his shots found more iron than a miner does in most months. Held to only 11 points on a dismal three-of-12 from the field, Hunt was frustrated and forced bad shots. The loss of point guard Omari Ware '02 to a knee injury also forced Hunt to bring up the ball more than he would have liked. Yale's defensive success was a team effort.

"We trapped him anytime he came off a screen with the ball," Gaffield said. "But other than that, the guys that guarded him played him straight up and did a really good job."

Yale's success against Brown translated nicely into the first half of the Tues., Jan. 23 contest with Big Ten power Penn State. Continuing their pattern of playing tough against national powers, the Elis actually led the Nittany Lions late in the first half and trailed at the break by five. But Penn State, led by star guards Joe Crispin '01 and Titus Ivory '01, demonstrated their superior athleticism by opening the second half with an 11-0 run, catapulting them to a 90-75 victory. Leanza led the team with 21 points and in one second-half stretch matched the exploits of Ivory with three three-pointers. Yanke missed the game with a sprained ankle, an injury that should keep him out of action for a week.

Jones believes that the team's unraveling in the second half was due to being "emotionally drained" and hopes to build instead on the positive first half. "I think that our confidence has been building all season and is coming to a culmination right now," he said.

Yale's next road trip will test the team's psyche and improving play. On Fri., Feb. 2, and Sat., Feb. 3, the Elis will travel to Penn and Princeton to grapple with the two dominant Ivy powers. Some players cannot wait the 10 days until the big match-ups.

"We are 3-0 in the league with a chance to play for first place next week," Minoff said. And if the Bulldogs manage to win one or both of those games, the team picked to finish last by Ivy coaches might bring a different distinction to New Haven—an NCAA tournament bid.

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