The men’s basketball team endured another tough loss Saturday, losing to visiting Connecticut College 85-70. The loss put a damper on a special day: the team’s final home game of the year. As the last home game, it served as an opportunity to recognize the team’s four seniors: Stan Grayson ’09, Gabe Gonzalez-Kreisberg ’09, Jon Sargent ’09 and Kevin Scura ’09.

The Camels came into the game with an 11-9 record but were only 1-5 in NESCAC action. The game certainly seemed winnable for Wesleyan, which entered the contest with a 6-14 overall record (2-4 NESCAC). But the Camels opened the game in an energetic 2-3 defensive zone that confounded the Cardinals, and Wes’ shooters, for the most part, could not capitalize on the opening this gave them. The Cards’ big men did grab a few offensive rebound opportunities but were unable to put them back in. Finally, after the Cardinals fell behind 7-0, coach Joe Reilly was forced to take a timeout to fire up the troops.

It wasn’t until Scura’s three-pointer during the game’s fourth minute that the Cards stopped a 9-0 Camel opening run and made it 9-3. Over the next few minutes, the Cardinals moved the ball around smoothly and got it inside to big men Grayson and Dave Maltz ’11. They slowly crept back until the score was tied at 19 apiece.

However, then the Cardinals went cold, while the Camels ignited once again. Soon Conn. had gone on another huge run, this time 22-7, to make it 41-26, and any momentum Wesleyan had momentarily possessed was gone. During that roughly seven-minute span, the Cards had done a fairly good job of running on the Camels and driving at them in the half court, keeping them on their heels, but they were simply unable to finish plays at the rim. Even when they got offensive rebounds, their second shots would be off the mark as well. Still, the Cardinals had a chance to gain some momentum before the half, when Grayson was fouled on a breakaway layup with four seconds left, but he missed both free throws and Wesleyan went into the locker room down 46-30.

Nonetheless, Grayson was at the midpoint of another wonderful performance, with nine points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals at halftime. He finished with 13 points, 12 boards, six dimes and five thefts for the game. Scura shot 50 percent in the first half, with 10 points, but the team was struggling overall from three-point range and the free-throw line, shooting 25 percent and 50 percent, respectively. Conn., however, was simply on fire, shooting 75 percent from the field and 66 percent from downtown. The Camels also had 13 assists to Wesleyan’s 6, due partly to the Camels’ shooters making such a higher percentage of their shots.

Jason Mendell ’12, who had been relatively quiet in the first half, got it going in the second, with his first good three-pointer coming during the second minute. The team seemed poised to follow his lead, capping an 8-0 run with a great play in the third minute that cut the Camels’ lead to 48-38. A Conn. missed shot was bobbled around until Grayson nimbly dove to the floor to secure it, and then threw it to Scura from his backside. Scura advanced the ball and dished it to Sargent, who was hacked extremely hard on the arm as he went up, but displayed incredible strength and was still able to put in the layup. He made the ensuing free throw to cut the lead to 10, and the crowd and bench players got back into the game after a somber first half.

Then, however, Connecticut senior guard Billy Karis drained a three, which quashed the excitement quickly. Grayson continued to play at an extremely high level, though, hustling everywhere, diving out of bounds for loose balls, and amassing steals, rebounds and blocks.

Following a substitution with 11:55 to play, Conn. was hit with a technical foul for listing an incorrect number in the scorebook. Scura made both free throws to cut the lead to 60-49, and the Camels missed a shot, giving Wesleyan a chance to bring the deficit back down to single digits. The Cards, however, could not take advantage of the opportunity, as Grayson was called for a travel.

This general trend continued, with Wes making short runs to bring the deficit down to as few as seven before Connecticut’s shooters making some big baskets to crush any hope the Cardinals had. Eventually, although the Cardinals’ defense improved, their shooting percentage got even worse. In the last two minutes, the team was unable to mount any sort of comeback thanks to 25 percent shooting and a 10-for-10 performance from the line by the Camels.

The team has one NESCAC weekend left, as the Cardinals will head to Maine over the weekend to take on Bowdoin on Friday the 13th followed by a game at Colby on Saturday. Wesleyan must win at least one game to have a chance at a playoff berth, and two wins will give the Cardinals a shot at a first-round home game.