The finish doesn't make up for everything that went wrong in a season that fell far short of Yale's expectations, but at least the Bulldogs didn't give up.

After losing four straight games, the Bulldogs closed out the season with three wins, including a 50-48 road victory over Dartmouth and an 81-65 home victory over Harvard in the final weekend of the season.

"The only thing we could do in the last three games was try to win," Yale coach James Jones said. "We were fortunate to be able to do that."

Still, the Bulldogs (13-15, 7-7 Ivy) had much higher hopes for the season.

After finishing second in the Ivy League in 2006-07, Yale entered the 2007-08 season with four returning starters and four seniors, and was picked second in the preseason league poll.

However, Yale opened its Ivy schedule with three losses in its first four games and never got back in the race.

With the loss of leading scorer Eric Flato, versatile twins Caleb and Nick Holmes, and 6-10 center Matt Kyle, the Bulldogs have a lot of holes to fill next season.

Jones can also expect more from junior forwards Ross Morin and Travis Pinick after their strong finishes.

That still leaves the Bulldogs with plenty of work to do in fixing a backcourt that struggled to produce on a consistent basis throughout the season.

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