By Annabella Ramirez
3/16/2025
These teams played a pair of high-scoring affairs over the last six weeks, with Yale winning both matchups, but it seemed that fans were in store for a different kind of game in the early going as championship nerves seemed evident. Cornell had things going early in the first half, scoring the game’s first points and leading 13-8 at the first media timeout. The Big Red stretched their lead to 18-11 just a couple minutes later, but Yale’s Casey Simmons had back-to-back layups and recently crowned Ivy League Player and Defensive Player of the Year Bez Mbeng hit a three pointer to cap off the Bulldogs’ 7-0 run in just over 2 minutes that tied the game at 18 apiece with 9 minutes to play in the first half.
From there the teams mostly traded baskets as Cornell would regain the lead only for Yale to tie it on several more occasions, but even then, the Big Red had the 28-26 advantage at the under-4 media timeout.
Coming out of that timeout, however, Yale ratcheted up the defensive intensity and began converting on the offensive end. Mbeng hit a three-pointer on the first possession out of the timeout to give Yale its first lead of the afternoon at 29-28 and Simmons buried a three on the very next trip down the floor to make it a 32-28 game. Isaac Celiscar converted the old-fashioned three-point play, followed by a jumper by Trevor Mullin, and just like that, Yale capped off what was a 12-0 run to go up 37-28 with 1:23 to go. AK Okereke had 4 points in the final minute-plus for Cornell to make it a 37-32 Yale lead at the break.
Maybe just as impressive as Yale leading by five after trailing by as many as seven points was that the Bulldogs generated the comeback with just two points from their top scorer, John Poulakidas. Poulakidas, who came in averaging 19.0 points per game, was still impacting the game in other ways, but his scoring output was buoyed by strong first halves from Simmons, Mbeng, and Nick Townsend, who had 9, 9, and 7 points, respectively.
Poulakidas was not going to remain quiet for the entirety of the championship game, though, and came out of the locker rooms dialed in. A three-pointer by Townsend on a kick-out pass by Poulakidas put Yale up 42-34 and on the ensuing possession, Townsend stole the ball on an in-bounds pass and started a fast break that resulted in Poulakidas burying his first three-pointer of the game. Like with most scorers, once they see their first go through the hoop, the rest can come in a hurry and that’s exactly what happened with Poulakidas. The senior went on a personal 8-0 run, the exclamation point coming with a long three-pointer at the end of a shot clock to put Yale up 50-34 at the first media timeout of the second half.
Yale had fully seized momentum and led 55-39 after another Poulakidas three-pointer, but things started to shift after Simmons was whistled for a technical foul after a reach-in was called on him, sending him to the bench. The technical foul seemed to spark the Big Red as Nazir Williams hit both technical free throws and started what would be 14-2 run that spanned just two minutes of game time and made it 57-53 with 10:31 to play. During that run, Adam Hinton, Williams, and Guy Ragland Jr. twice hit three pointers as Cornell, who shot nearly 38 percent from distance on the season, used their hot shooting to get right back into the game.
Mullin briefly calmed the storm with a three pointer of his own, pushing Yale’s lead back to 60-53, but another quick burst from Williams and a three by Ragland Jr. brought Cornell to within two points, the closest they had been since it was 29-28 Yale with 3:29 to play in the opening half. Mbeng answered with a three-pointer and after Okereke made a driving layup, Poulakidas hit another three-pointer to make it 66-60 with under 8 minutes to play.
Cornell would not go quietly though as Okereke cashed in on a three-point play to make it 66-63, but that would be as close as the Big Red would get the rest of the way as Yale would have an answer for everything Cornell threw at it over the remainder of the second half.
Threes from Mullin and Poulakidas and a pair of baskets from Townsend made up a 10-5 run that gave the Bulldogs some breathing room at 76-68. That space was plenty for a Yale team that had their sights on a return to the NCAA Tournament. The Bulldogs picked apart Cornell for a few layups and then converted their free throws down the stretch to finish off an exhilarating championship with the 90-84 victory.
Poulakidas led all scorers with 25 points, totaling 23 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting and 5-of-5 from three-point range in the second half. Townsend had 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists while leading the team with 2 steals. Mbeng, who played all 40 minutes of his final Ivy League championship game, had 15 points, 4 assists, and led Yale with 7 rebounds.
Okereke did just about everything for Cornell before fouling out late, leading the Big Red with 22 points, game-highs of 8 rebounds and 5 assists, as well as notching Cornell’s only 2 steals and 1 of their 2 blocks. Williams had 20 points and 4 assists while Ragland Jr. had 16 points and 7 rebounds in the game. Jake Fiegen rounded out the Big Red’s double-digit scorers with 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting.
Poulakidas was named the 2025 Ivy Madness Most Valuable Player, averaging 19 points and 3.5 rebounds over the two games. Mbeng, who averaged 13.5 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 steals joined him on the Ivy Madness All-Tournament Team. Okereke was named to the All-Tournament Team after averaging 23.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3 steals, and 2.5 blocks per game. Dartmouth’s Brandon Mitchell-Day and Princeton’s Xavian Lee finished off the 2025 All-Tournament Team.
With the win, Yale secured back-to-back Ivy Madness Championships and has won the event four out of the last five times it’s been played.
