Cardinal men’s basketball began the season two weeks ago, on Friday, Nov. 20, with a 104-94 win against Johnson State College in Silloway Gymnasium. The game was part of the Inn at Middletown Tip-Off Tournament, which the Cardinals won a day later by beating Becker College. Shasha Brown ’13 was named tournament MVP after posting 22 points, eight assists, five rebounds, and four steals against Johnson State and 29 points on 50 percent shooting against Becker. Jason Mendell ’12 was named to the All-Tournament team, scoring 26 points against Johnson State and coming up with an outstanding overall game the next day, accumulating 17 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Against the Johnson State Badgers, the Cardinals took most of the game to pull away. The first half was a back-and-forth affair in which the score was tied six times. After halftime, the Badgers led by as many as six, but Mendell put the home team ahead for good with a three-pointer to make it 55-53 with 17:39 to go. The Cardinals led by as many as 19 in the second half, but Johnson State made it interesting with an 18-3 run that cut the deficit to four with just over two minutes left. But Wes was cool under pressure, making free throws and getting defensive stops after that point to secure the ten-point victory.
The next day, the Cardinals ground out another hard-fought victory against the Becker College Hawks. The first half was a back-and-forth struggle for the first ten minutes until Wesleyan appeared to take control, holding the Hawks to 30 percent shooting in the first half and taking a nine-point halftime lead into the locker room. In the second half, however, Becker shot 58 percent on in an attempted comeback in which the Hawks made up the nine-point deficit in just five minutes and eventually led by as many as four. But Brown, with two of his game-high 29 points, gave the Cardinals a 64-63 lead that they would not relinquish in the remaining 12 minutes**. Wesleyan held off the Hawks for the remainder of the game to secure its 95-85 win and tournament championship. The two wins meant the Cardinals were off to a 2-0 start for the first time since 2001-02.
Brown put on another terrific performance three days later, as the Cardinals traveled to Williams for their first Little Three matchup of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 24. Although Brown scored 35 points and dished out five assists, fellow freshman Derick Beresford was the only other Cardinal in double figures, scoring 14 points. Although the 91 points the Cardinals scored against Williams were Wesleyan’s most since March 1, 1986 in a 91-84 win, they couldn’t hold Williams back this time, allowing 106 points en route to their first loss.
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