After racing off to a 16-point first-half lead against Yale Saturday afternoon, the men's basketball team got sluggish. The Bears made turnovers, the Bulldogs made three-pointers and Yale suddenly had a lead midway through the second half.
Then, Chris Skrelja '09 got into a shoving match with Bulldogs guard Porter Braswell. Just as suddenly, the Bears and their boisterous home crowd had a rallying point.
The Bears then pulled away for a 77-68 win against Yale, which beat Brown in New Haven, Conn., in the teams' Ivy League opener on Jan. 19.
Skrelja, the team's emotional leader on Saturday, also led his team on the court with a double-double of 16 points and 15 rebounds. Guard Damon Huffman '08 added a team-high 23 points, while Yale guard Eric Flato countered with a game-high 24.
"It was definitely a must-win game," said Skrelja afterward.
The game was a match-up between two teams considered to be title contenders. The buzzing atmosphere at the Pizzitola Center reflected that, as Yale brought its marching band and a few hundred fans to counter the Brown Men's Basketball Alumni Day crowd.
But Yale (7-9 overall, 1-1 Ivy League), picked to finish second in the league in the preseason poll, didn't play like a contender for much of the first half. Brown (9-7, 1-1) jumped off to a 21-10 lead after guard Mark McAndrew '08 and swingman Peter Sullivan '11 each hit a pair of three-pointers. After Huffman hit his own three, the Bears had their biggest lead of the night, 32-16, with 5:10 left in the half.
But Yale closed the half on an 11-0 run, with Flato hitting three consecutive three-pointers in that stretch. The run ended when Matt Kyle, a 6-foot-11 center, stole a McAndrew pass and glided in for an uncontested dunk. Though Yale was down 32-27 at halftime, the Yale band blared as the teams headed to the locker room, a sign that the momentum had shifted over to the Bulldogs.
After the halftime break, the Bulldogs slowly made up the five-point deficit by swatting away Brown shots and hitting their own. They finally took a 42-40 lead with 12:10 left in the game.
But a minute later, with the game tied at 44-44, Skrelja and Braswell fought for a loose ball in front of the Yale bench. Then, according to Skrelja, Braswell shoved him. Skrelja appeared to shove him back, and both players had to be restrained by their respective teammates. Head Coach Craig Robinson started screaming, apparently for a technical on Braswell, and seemed on the verge of getting a technical himself. Play stopped for a couple of minutes, and during a media timeout shortly afterward, the crowd was eerily quiet for a tie game.
But after the timeout, the Bears seemed charged, with Adrian Williams '11 and Skrelja hitting two quick lay-ups. The Bears took a 52-46 lead and then, with 6:10 remaining in the game, Huffman hit a three-pointer while getting fouled, sending the crowd screaming. He completed the four-point play, and Brown was ahead 61-52.
"It just brought a different energy to the game," said Huffman, a team captain, of Skrelja and Braswell's altercation. "It kind of lit a fire under the guys."
But at the three-minute mark, Brown almost blew the lead it had quickly gained. With the score 68-58, Yale scored six points in a 17-second span, when Yale's full-court pressure forced two Brown turnovers. But Brown was able to score on its next two possessions, on a Huffman drive and a short Sullivan jumper, while taking time off the clock. Brown hit five out of six free throws in the final minute to seal the win.
After the game, both head coaches said they were not concerned about their players' conduct on the court. Yale Head Coach James Jones said, "That's the way it's supposed to be played," and that emotions were running especially high because of the high stakes of the game. Robinson said he was glad that his players stood up to Yale's "roughness."
Skrelja was a bit more blunt.
"I have the utmost respect for Yale," Skrelja said, "and they just came into the game and didn't show us the same respect."
Next up, the men's basketball team will play Cornell and Columbia at home this weekend. Cornell (10-5 overall, 2-0 Ivy), picked to win the league in the preseason poll, swept its series with Columbia (7-10, 0-2).
The Bears might have to play the New York teams without one of their captains. Mark MacDonald '08 left just 37 seconds into the game after colliding with Skrelja. He said he hit his face against the side of Skrelja's head while transitioning to offense. He fell and lay facedown for about 10 seconds, during which he said he was knocked out. He was then taken to the trainer's room, where he was diagnosed with a mild concussion. MacDonald said he would see a doctor tomorrow to take more tests, and was unclear when he would be able to play again.
Game Notes
Matt Mullery '10 replaced MacDonald and had eight points, eight rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes. ... Skrelja showed Brown fans a new look shooting free throws: He now takes them one-handed. After Skrelja made just 3-of-7 free throws during the Dec. 9 Providence College game, Robinson told him to shoot them one-handed. "I do what he tells me to do," Skrelja said. ... After the game, Robinson said he would head home to watch the results for the South Carolina Democratic primaries to come in. He is campaigning for his brother-in-law, Barack Obama. "I'm hoping for two wins today," he said. He came out on top in both arenas.
