Dawson Garcia helps Minnesota hold off Yale

Dawson Garcia scored 24 points and grabbed six rebounds, and Minnesota rallied for a 59-56 win over Yale on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Brennan Rigsby added 15 points on 5-for-10 shooting for Minnesota (3-1), which bounced back from its first loss of the season. Lu'Cye Patterson finished with seven points to go along with a team-high six assists.

John Poulakidas scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds to lead Yale (2-3). Isaac Celiscar had 11 points and seven assists off the bench, and Casey Simmons finished with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting from the field.

Minnesota shot 36.4 percent overall (20 of 55) and 17.6 percent (3 of 17) from beyond the 3-point line. Yale shot 44.4 percent (20 of 45) from the field and 50 percent (7 of 14) from long distance.

The Golden Gophers overcame poor shooting by limiting their turnovers. They committed only three turnovers, compared with 14 turnovers by Yale, and in large part because of that advantage Minnesota outscored Yale 15-2 in points off turnovers.

Yale led 29-19 at the break. Minnesota outscored the Bulldogs 40-27 in the second half.

The score was tied at 50 after Garcia made a jump shot with 4:28 remaining.

Garcia put Minnesota on top 52-50 less than a minute later by making a pair of free throws. The Golden Gophers increased their lead to 54-50 on a jump shot by Patterson with 2:49 to play.

Yale drew within 54-53 on a 3-pointer by Poulakidas with 2:31 to go.

Femi Odukale made one of two free throws to give Minnesota a 55-53 lead with 1:14 left.

Garcia pushed the lead to 59-53 with four more free throws in the final 18 seconds.

Poulakidas made a 3-pointer as time expired for Yale to cut the deficit to three.

Garcia finished 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. The Gophers made 16 of 26 attempts from the free-throw line, and Yale shot 9 of 12 from the charity stripe.

--Field Level Media