March Madness 2016: Yale In High Spirits Despite Recent Loss To Duke
The twelfth-seeded Yale Bulldogs still gave themselves a reason to celebrate, despite their loss to fourth-seeded Duke Blue Devils on Saturday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center in Providence.
It was because the Bulldogs experienced their first victory in the NCAA tournament by upsetting the fifth-seeded Baylor Bears last Thursday, during the first round of March Madness 2016. The Bulldogs emerged victorious with a final score of 79-75, with guard Makai Mason scoring 31 points, as well as grabbing six rebounds and making four assists, while shooting 9 out of 18 from the field, and playing through 39 minutes.
Forward Justin Shears also contributed 18 points, four rebounds, and three assists, on 7 out of 10 field goal shooting through 28 minutes of playing time. According to Yale senior Brandon Sherrod, achieving the victory was something he has longed for throughout his collegiate career.
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"To be the first team in the school's history to win one is unbelievable, and to go out like this as a senior is really second to none," Sherrod said in a report Matt Norlander by CBS Sports. "You can't beat that experience."
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, they were not able to carry on with their winning ways after losing to the Blue Devils with a score 74-61 on Saturday. But to their credit, Yale actually managed to put up a fight, giving Duke a run for their money.
Norlander's report adds that Yale was able to almost eradicate a 27-point deficit and bring it down to merely three-points. All of it happened by the last 33.5 seconds of the game. However, Sherrod was able to nail the final lay-up from a double-back-cut play with just 20 seconds remaining in the game clock.
Yale coach James Jones still showed gratitude and appreciation towards how his wards had performed, despite the game's outcome.
"I couldn't be more proud of them, especially our seniors who are going to be graduating and have done so much for us over four years," Jones said.
