Makai Mason leads Yale to an epic 79-75 win over Baylor

‘He’s a bad little man’

In the Bulldogs’ first NCAA tournament appearance in more than 50 years, the Yale men’s basketball team defeated fifth-seeded Baylor 79-75.

Sophomore Makai Mason had a spectacular game, scoring 31 points and setting a Yale NCAA tournament record.

CBS commentator Chris Webber described Mason as “a bad little man” and warned opponents not be fouled by his “altar boy looks”. Mason, who averaged 16 points a game in the regular season, scored 17 of the team’s 39 in the first half.

The Bulldogs led by five at the start of the second, but Baylor came out strong, scoring the first six points and taking the lead. Yale responded with six points of its own before two Baylor seniors, Taurean Prince and Rico Gathers, got into a shoving match during a TV timeout.

Sherrod ran into foul trouble and was benched with 14 minutes left in the second half, but the Bulldogs gained momentum hitting two three-pointers in a row as chants of “Let’s go Bulldogs” filled the arena. Yale increased its lead to nine with two baskets made by Mason and junior Sam Downey.

After another bucket for for both teams, Yale’s lead grew to 10 after Sears made a three-point play after he was fouled on his shot. On the next defensive play, though, Sears earned his fourth foul and was subbed out.

Downey increased Yale’s lead to twelve with two free throws with just under eight minutes to go. Baylor responded to score two, but once again, Mason hit a beautiful three-pointer for the Bulldogs.

Prince then scored back-to-back dunks for Baylor, taking advantage of Sears and Sherrod being on the bench.

With four minutes to go, Yale had a eight-point lead as Mason matched his career high of 25 points with two more made free throws.

But Baylor would not go away and whittled away at Yale’s lead, bringing the score to 68-64.

Sears then scored a layup, but a foul on Mason gave Jake Lindsey of Baylor two free throws. Lindsey only made one, and on Yale’s inbound, Mason was fouled. He made both of his free throws to bring Yale to 72 points.

A three-pointer by Prince brought Baylor within four, and then a quick steal led to two more points for Bears.

Mason was fouled hard on the ensuing inbound, sending him to the line where he made both points. His 29 points set a new record for most points by a Yale player in a single NCAA game.

Baylor then had a chance on offensive, but Sears drew an offensive foul. Sears hit his first free throw, but missed the second. Baylor rebounded, and Lester Medford scored a layup.

With 28 seconds left, Yale led by two points and called a timeout. On the inbounds, Mason received the ball and broke the Bears’ press. With 20 seconds to go, Mason was fouled again and hit both of his free throws.

But Baylor was not done. Prince hit a three pointer to bring his team within one point of Yale.

The Bulldogs inbounded the ball, then called their last timeout with 9 seconds remaining when Mason was tied up by two Baylor players.

Anthony Dallier inbounded the ball to Nick Victor who was quickly fouled by Baylor. Victor shot 56 percent from the line entering today’s game, and made his first shot before airballing his second.

With 6.8 seconds left, the Bulldogs led 77-75. Baylor tried to quickly work the ball down the court but lost control of the ball, and Sears gained position. He was then fouled.

Sherrod nailed both his free throws to clinch the game.

Of course, the team could not escape the controversy surrounding Jack Montague, the senior captain who was expelled in January. Near the beginning of the game, the CBS commentators discussed Montague’s expulsion and the shirts the team wore to support the guard on February 28. During the Bulldogs’ warm up before playing Harvard, the team sported grey tshirts with “Gucci” and number four on the back–a reference to Montague’s nickname and jersey number. The Yale Daily News also reported Jack Montague, the senior captain who was expelled from Yale in January, was at the game.

The CBS commentators were also sure to recognize Sherrod’s off-the-court talent: In the second half, CBS played video of Sherrod performing with the Whiffenpoofs. The senior took last season off and toured with the country’s oldest collegiate a cappella group.

Yale will take on Duke in the round of 32 on Saturday.

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