The men’s basketball team performance spanned the spectrum from spectacular to substandard for the this past weekend. A furious comeback spearheaded by the scoring of guard Shasha Brown ’13 resulted in a 66-65 win at Eastern Connecticut, while an 81-73 loss to Connecticut College Camels left yet another obstacle in the Cardinal’s road to the NESCAC Tournament.

Wesleyan got off to a slow start against Eastern Connecticut with a first-half performance plagued by poor shooting. While the Cardinal men were largely able to contain the hosts on defense, holding them to 32 points on just 11-27 shooting, Wesleyan lacked any offensive touch in the first half. The Cardinals shot 8-29 from the field for an abysmal 27.6 per cent before halftime. Wesleyan’s lack of an offensive spark allowed Eastern Connecticut’s pedestrian offense to turn out scoring runs of 10-2 and 13-2 to build a 16-point lead. However, Wesleyan was able to cut down on the deficit in the final minutes of the first half to go into the intermission trailing 32-23.

The second half featured a revitalized Cardinal offense that swung the momentum of the game, as Wesleyan finally knotted the score at 47 apiece with a jumper by forward Matt Hogan ’13 with eleven minutes remaining. Wesleyan shot a superb 19-31 from the field, or 61.3 per cent, in the final 20 minutes, as Brown scored 22 of his game-leading 30 points. The most dramatic moment in Brown’s personal scoring barrage came in the final seconds. Following an out-of-bounds block on a layup with three seconds remaining, Brown received the inbounds pass and hit a 15-footer with one second left on the clock to seal the win for Wesleyan.

The Cardinals would not be so fortunate during their trip to New London to take on the Connecticut College Camels.  Conn. College started the game with a bang, building the largest lead of the first half when they went up 21-13 with 11:30 remaining. But the Cardinals responded with an 11-2 scoring run over the next 5:24 to bring the score to a 23-23 tie. The rival schools spent the final minutes jostling for control heading into halftime, with Wesleyan earning the edge as a three-pointer by guard Otis Poisson ’11 lifted the Cardinals to a 40-38 lead.

Wesleyan continued to assert itself at the beginning of the second half, with a three-pointer by co-captain Jason Mendell ’12 snagging a 66-57 edge for the Cards. The nine-point lead was the largest of the night for Wesleyan, although unfortunately the wheels seemed to come off for the Cardinals in the final eight minutes of the game. It took the Camels just 2:36 to tie the score at 66-66, and Connecticut College outscored Wesleyan 24-7 following the Mendell three-pointer to send Wesleyan home with an 81-73 loss. Despite getting 27 points from Mendell and 15 points and seven assists from Brown, Wesleyan fell to 1-6 in NESCAC play, casting into doubt the possibility of a bid in the conference tournament.

It is officially crunch time for the Cardinal men, who are currently in a tie for last place in the NESCAC. This coming weekend will feature must-win home games against Colby on Friday and Bowdoin on Saturday. Colby is the other 1-6 team in the NESCAC cellar, while Bowdoin is currently in a tie for seventh place with Connecticut College; each are 2-5 in conference. With the top eight NESCAC teams qualifying for postseason play, the Cardinals need to take care of business at Silloway Gymnasium or risk being on the outside looking