In an October 2004 alumni newsletter, then-men’s basketball head coach Gerry McDowell wrote that freshman forward Nick Pelletier ’08 “will bolster our frontcourt immediately” and noted his “energy and competitive nature.” Four years later, Pelletier has become the 17th player in Wesleyan men’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points, a milestone that he reached with a career-high 27 during a much-needed 80-78 win at Tufts on Saturday. The win snapped the Cardinals’ six-game losing streak and allowed them to end their road trip on a high note after an 85-60 loss at Bates Friday night.

Recent trends suggested that the Cards were going up against more than just the NESCAC’s third-most prolific offense. Tufts dealt Wesleyan a 94-69 home loss last season, one year after the Cardinals were defeated 95-70 in Medford. In addition, Tufts entered the game in dire need of a conference win, having lost as many NESCAC games (four) as it did all of last season. However, co-captain Eric Winters ’08 noted that Wesleyan was not there to talk about the past and lose sight of the task at hand.

“As far as the team is concerned, it was the do-or-die point of the season,” Winters said. “It got to the point where we were going to…win and make this a season, or fold. It was a playoff game for us—a win-or-go-home situation.”

Wesleyan led 19-13 early in the first half, but a 14-0 Tufts run gave the Jumbos a 27-19 lead with 11:16 to go. Tufts led by as many as 12 in the half, but the Cardinals were able to whittle the deficit to five at halftime, 49-44.

Tufts led by six halfway through the second half, but a technical foul on the Jumbos sparked a 17-9 game-ending run by the Cards. With the score tied 76-76 and just over one minute to play, Pelletier drained a three-pointer—the only field goal by either team during the last 3:30—to put Wesleyan up for good. Tufts had one last chance to tie with 2.3 seconds left but missed a jumper in the paint as time expired.

Pelletier led all scorers with 27 points—a career high and the most by a Cardinal this season—and also pulled down 12 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes. Winters added nine points and six rebounds in 35 minutes and Sean Collins ’08 added 15 points off the bench. Wesleyan shot 47.5 percent and had its highest point total of the season.

The gritty performance came on the heels of an 85-60 drubbing at Bates on Friday night. The Cards trailed 21-19 after 11 minutes, but Bates scored 22 of the last 30 points of the half to take a 43-27 lead to the locker room. Bates’s lead did not fall below 12 the rest of the way, and the Bobcats finished the game with an 18-9 run for the 25-point win.

“We as a team were not ready for Bates,” Winters said. “They came out of the gate making shots and making stops defensively, and we were never able to match [the] tempo they set early on.”

He added, however, “I think it shows a lot about the character of our team to come back and get a big win against Tufts the next day.”

Not to mention, the team added a new member to the Millennium Club.