Jan. 10, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

vs. OBERLIN
Sat., Jan. 12, 2008 - 2 p.m.
John J. Lee Amphitheater
New Haven, Conn.
Free Video: Yale All*Access (yalebulldogs.com)
Radio: WYBC (1340 AM, wybc.com)

YALE TALE
The Bulldogs (5-8) have one more test before Ivy League play starts on Jan. 19. Yale hosts Oberlin College on Saturday. A familiar face will be roaming the sideline for the Yeomen. Isaiah Cavaco, a 2001 Yale graduate, is in his second season as the head coach at Oberlin. Cavaco was a four-year letterwinner for the Bulldogs, received the 1998 John C. Cobb Award as Yale's top freshman and led the team in three-pointers (36) and assists (72) in 1998-99. Cavaco, who suffered a serious knee injury as a junior, spent the 2002-03 season as an assistant coach at Yale under James Jones. The Bulldogs have won two of their last three games, including a 78-73 victory at Longwood on Tuesday night, and will be looking to win their last non-conference game of the year for the sixth time in the last seven years. Yale's bench is averaging 27.6 points over the last eight games and has outscored its opponents' bench in seven of those contests. In Tuesday's win at Longwood, reserves Travis Pinick and Alex Zampier combined to score all nine points during a 9-0 run that erased a five-point Yale deficit with less than three minutes remaining in the second half. Zampier finished with 14 points, which matched his career high, while Pinick was 4-for-4 from the field.

HISTORY LESSONS
It's been more than 100 years since the only meeting between Yale and Oberlin. The Bulldogs defeated the Yeomen 34-27 on Jan. 2, 1907, in Ohio. Yale went 30-7-1 that season and captured the EIBL championship.

SCOUTING OBERLIN
The Yeomen (3-9) have won three of their last five games, including a 75-70 victory over Denison on Wednesday night. Mike Loll and Jordan Beard both scored 19 points in the win. Loll leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg.) and rebounding (6.5 rpg.) and was named the North Coast Athletic Conference Player of the Week after scoring 21 points and grabbing 11 rebounds in a victory over Earlham. Beard averages 12.9 points and has made a team-best 23 three-pointers.

YALE 78, LONGWOOD 73
The start of Ivy League play is less than two weeks away, and in order to compete for the championship, the Bulldogs are going to have to win on the road. Tuesday night at Longwood, they showed that they can. Eric Flato scored 19 points and Ross Morin added 17 points and eight rebounds as Yale edged the Lancers 78-73 at Willett Hall. Trailing 70-65 with 3:17 remaining in the second half, the Bulldogs scored nine straight points. Alex Zampier started the comeback with a jumper, and Travis Pinick followed with his first three-pointer of the season to tie the score and then hit a driving layup with 1:19 left to give Yale a 72-70 lead. Zampier capped the run by making two free throws with 29 seconds left. Kevin Swecker's three-pointer pulled Longwood within 74-73, but Zampier made two more free throws with 13 seconds remaining. The Lancers had a chance to tie, but Brandon Giles missed a three-pointer. Morin's two foul shots with four seconds left sealed the victory, Yale's second away from home this season. Yale shot 50 percent from the field in the game and made nine three-pointers. Morin was 6 of 10 from the field and made all four of his free throws. Center Matt Kyle, who had a number of family and friends in the crowd, added seven points and seven rebounds. Off the bench, Zampier scored 14 points and Pinick was 4-for-4 from the field and chipped in nine points. Yale's bench outscored Longwood's 29-17. The game featured 10 ties and 13 lead changes.The Bulldogs made 14 of 16 free throws in the second half, including 9 of 10 in the final 5:41. Kirk Williams scored 20 points to pace the Lancers (4-15). Lamar Barrett added 15 points and Giles scored 11. Longwood outrebounded Yale 36-29.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
The Bulldogs were picked to finish second in the 2007-08 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll. Yale received three first-place votes and had 104 points. Cornell is the choice from the 16 media members from the eight Ivy areas who voted. This is the first time since 1988-89 that neither Penn nor Princeton was selected to finish first.

2007-08 Ivy League Preseason Media Poll

1. Cornell, 119 points (10 first-place votes)
2. Yale, 104 (3)
3. Penn, 97 (1)
4. Columbia, 80 (1)
5. Brown, 70 (1)
6. Harvard, 43
7. Princeton, 40
8. Dartmouth, 23

JONES SERVES AS ASSISTANT COACH FOR TEAM USA
James Jones, the Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Yale, served as an assistant coach for the 2007 USA Basketball Men's Pan American Games team. Villanova's Jay Wright was the head coach and Jones was joined as an assistant coach by Alabama's Mark Gottfried. The team, which featured Georgetown's Roy Hibbert, Michigan State's Drew Neitzel and Indiana's D.J. White, finished fifth in the Games, held in Rio. The 2007 Pan American Games assignment was Jones' second coaching experience with USA Basketball. He previously served as a court coach for the 2006 USA Men's U18 National Team Trials.

CHALLENGING SCHEDULE ON TAP
Seven teams that reached the postseason last year, including Final Four participant UCLA, highlight the 2007-08 Yale schedule. The Bulldogs played the Bruins on Nov. 23 for only the second time and made their first appearance in Pauley Pavilion. Yale visited another of college basketball's historic venues, Allen Fieldhouse, for the game against Kansas. The Jayhawks lost to UCLA in the Elite Eight last year. Other 2006-07 NCAA participants on the schedule include Stanford (Nov. 20), Holy Cross (Nov. 28) and defending Ivy League champion Penn (Feb. 16, Feb. 29). In addition, the Bulldogs played at UMass (Nov. 14) and hosted Vermont (Dec. 8), both of whom played in the NIT last year. "Our 2007-08 schedule may be the most challenging that we've had in my tenure," said James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of Men's Basketball.

BULLDOGS TO MAKE FOUR TV APPEARANCES
Yale is currently scheduled to make four television appearances this season, starting with the Nov. 20 game against Stanford, which was broadcast on Fox Sports Net Bay Area. The Kansas matchup on Dec. 29 was on Jayhawk TV, which is available as part of the ESPN Full Court package. Both Yale-Penn contests will be televised. The game at the Palestra is on ESPN Classic and will mark Yale's second appearance on the ESPN family of networks (the 2003-04 season opener against UConn was on ESPN2). The John J. Lee Amphitheater will host the YES Network on Feb. 29 when the Quakers visit New Haven.

FREE VIDEO STREAMS ON YALEBULLDOGS.COM
Free live video will be available for 12 of Yale's 13 home games. Fans can access the games at yalebulldogs.com by clicking on the Yale All*Access logo in the top right corner. An e-mail address and password are required to subscribe to the service. WYBC (1340 AM), the flagship station for Yale Basketball, will provide audio.

FINAL THOUGHTS
Seniors Caleb and Nick Holmes are the first set of twins in the history of Yale basketball... James Jones' younger brother Joe is the head coach at Columbia. The Jones brothers are one of only two active brother duos coaching at the Division I level. Seth and Brad Greenberg are the head coaches at Virginia Tech and Radford.

Report filed by Tim Bennett, Yale Sports Publicity