PROVIDENCE, R.I. — John Poulakidas knocked down five 3-pointers in the second half as regular-season champion Yale added the Ivy League Tournament championship with a 90-84 win over Cornell on Sunday to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
The senior guard got off to a slow start, scoring just two points in the first half and missing all four 3-point attempts as Yale took a 37-32 advantage into intermission. That changed to start the second half when he erupted for eight points during a 90-second span, burying two 3s and a jumper to push the Bulldogs’ lead to 16 points, 50-34 with under 16 minutes to play.
Cornell clawed back. Guy Ragland Jr., Adam Hinton and Nazir Williams each hit 3-pointers in the span of just over a minute to get within seven and Ragland hit two more 3s to make it 60-58 with 9:18 left. Bez Mbeng answered with a 3 for Yale and Poulakidas hit from deep to make it 66-60, but Cornell got a three-point play from AK Okereke to make it a three-point game. Trevor Mullin and Poulakidas each hit a 3 and Nick Townsend scored twice during a 10-4 run for a76-68 lead with five minutes left.
Poulakidas finished 8 of 14 from the floor, including 5-for-9 from distance, while going 4-for-4 from the line. Townsend finished with 19 points with four assists and two steals, Mbeng contributed 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Casey Simmons added 13 points.
Okereke led Cornell (18-11) with 22 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals. Williams was 8-for-8 from the line and scored 20 points. Ragland hit 4 of 6 from deep to add 16 points with seven rebounds and Jake Fiegen contributed 11 points.
Baseball
Rider 19, Quinnipiac 9
LAWRENCEVILLE — Nick Shuhet homered and drove in eight runs as part of a 4-for-4 afternoon and the Broncs (9-5, 4-2) bounced back from Saturday’s ninth-inning meltdown to avoid a sweep against the Bobcats (10-7-1, 5-1). Joe Tiroly doubled, tripled and knocked in four runs.
Liberty 19, Princeton 1
LYNCHBURG, Va. — Three different players hit a home run and the Flames (15-6) completed a four-game sweep of the Tigers (3-14), who have lost five in a row overall. Jake Koonin homered for Princeton to account for the lone run.
Cal Baptist 4, Rutgers 1
PISCATAWAY — Ryan Kittredge struck out five and limited the Scarlet Knights (9-11) to three hits over 7.2 innings as the Lancers (10-10) took the rubber-game of the series.
Softball
Maryland 11, Rutgers 7
PISCATAWAY — LA Matthews’ two-run homer in the first inning wasn’t enough for the Scarlet Knights (14-17, 1-2) as they dropped the rubber match to the Terrapins (12-12, 2-1) in the first Big Ten series of the season. Maryland scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning on a passed ball and Sydney Lewis followed in the next inning with a two-run homer.
Tufts 3, TCNJ 1; Salisbury 9, TCNJ 1
SALISBURY, Md. — The Lions (5-7) managed just two runs across a pair of games against ranked opponents as the fell to the 20th-ranked Jumbos (3-6) and 13th-ranked Sea Gulls (11-1). Kaci Neveling and Olivia Santos had three hits each over the two games.
