PROVIDENCE — They had to win and did, even with their starting center on the bench for all but the first 32 seconds because he was groggy from a collision and their leading scorer a few seats away for most of the second half because he was struggling.

TTE, total team effort, is the reason Brown defeated Yale, 77-68, yesterday before a noisy crowd of 2,403 at the Pizzitola Center.

Backup center Matt Mullery relieved Mark MacDonald and played one of his best games in a Brown uniform, finishing with eight points, eight rebounds, two emphatic blocked shots, two assists and a steal in 28 minutes.

Freshman guard Adrian Williams took over for Mark McAndrew and played the best game of his career, logging 28 minutes and scoring 11 points, both career highs.

They complemented superb efforts from tri-captain Damon Huffman, who scored 23 points on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor and grabbed 5 rebounds in 37 minutes, and Mr. Versatility, Chris Skrelja, who scored 16 points and ripped down 14 rebounds, his career high, in 36 minutes. Freshman Peter Sullivan contributed 10 points in 36 minutes.

Yale captain Eric Flato scored 24 points and Ross Morin, who tortured Brown with 24 points in the first game, finished with 18.

“This was a must-win game for us,” said Huffman, whose team dropped a 66-63 overtime decision at Yale a week earlier. Yesterday’s victory evened their Ivy League record at 1-1 and improved their overall record to 9-7. Yale fell to 7-9, 1-1.

Brown led 32-16 with 5:07 remaining in the first half, trailed 44-42 with just under 12 minutes to play in the game, led 68-58 with a little more than three minutes to go and made five free throws in the final minute while holding Yale to one field goal.

“Going up, going down and going back up again shows a level of maturity and confidence. They have to be confident they can win these games,” Brown coach Craig Robinson said. “I think I was more worried when Yale went ahead, but they kept their cool. That’s the mark of a good team.”

Robinson was looking for better interior defense from his Bears in this rematch, and he got it. A week earlier, Yale scored 46 points in the paint and 16 points on second chances. Yesterday, Yale scored 34 points in the paint and 11 points on second chances, a difference of 17 points. Brown, out-rebounded by 12 in New Haven, won the battle of the boards in Providence, 32-25.

Beating Yale, a team expected to challenge for the Ivy League title, without MacDonald and McAndrew says something about Brown.

“Williams stepped up. Mullery stepped up. They rose to the occasion. Use whatever clichÉ you want,” Robinson said with a laugh.

And Skrelja with his daring half-court driving layups and strange, one-handed rainbow free throws in the second half?

“Last year before he got hurt, we thought he was the best guy on the court, and now he is showing us that,” the coach said

“I knew it was crunch time, and we needed big plays,” said Skrelja.

And Huffman, who sank Yale with 3-point shots, twisting layups in traffic and strong defense?

“He’s such a tough kid,” Robinson said. MacDonald, the 6-10 center, went down in front of the Brown bench after colliding with Skrelja. He lay prone for about 30 seconds, and when he sat up, he was bleeding from the nose. He went to the bench for treatment, and there he remained.

“He wanted to play, but he was a little wobbly,” the coach said. After warming up for the second half, he still didn’t feel well and sat out the rest of the game, his right knee packed in ice.

McAndrew had four turnovers and was having trouble covering his man, which is why he sat most of the afternoon.

“After all he has done for this team for the last two years, he deserves to have a bad game, but only one,” Robinson said with a smile. Brown will return to the Pizzitola Center Friday night against Cornell, the preseason favorite. The Big Red played at Columbia last night. BROWN

77

YALE

68

Next Game

Friday

vs. Cornell

7 p.m.

mszostak@projo.com