Andrew Ribner/Photography Editor
The Wesleyan men’s basketball team had a disappointing end to the 2010-2011 season, finishing the year by losing nine of their last 13 games. After graduating just three seniors and adding seven freshmen, four of whom are 6’6” or taller, the Cardinals hope to improve on last season’s 11-13 record with their strengthened front line.
The Cards have certainly started off on the right foot, winning four of their first five games. On Friday, Nov. 18, Wesleyan faced off against Bard College in the opening round of the Wesleyan-hosted Inn at Middletown Tip-Off Tournament, immediately putting Bard on the defensive by racing out to a 49-24 halftime lead. The Raptors of Bard never posed a threat, and the lead grew to as many as 39 before the Cardinals finally settled for an 86-53 victory.
With the win, Wesleyan advanced to the tournament final the next day against Curry College. The game started out as a dogfight, with neither team leading by more than five for the first 28 minutes of game action. Then the Cardinals turned on the heat, scoring 12 straight points to break a 48-48 tie and spark an eventual 80-59 victory. Shasha Brown ’13 scored eight of those 12 points en route to a 22-point performance and tournament MVP and NESCAC Co-Player of the Week honors. Glen Thomas ’14 was Wesleyan’s other all-tournament team representative, earning his first career double-double in the championship game with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
The following Tuesday, Wesleyan traveled to play Little Three rival Williams in an early-season conference tilt. This time, the Ephs administered the punishment, quickly amassing a 7-0 lead. Although the Cardinals made a few comeback attempts, the Ephs led by as many as 20 and were never ahead by less than eight in the second half. Despite the best efforts of Wesleyan’s junior backcourt tandem, Brown (25 points) and Derick Beresford (15), Williams won the season’s first Little Three contest 83-68.
After break and Thanksgiving, the team returned to the Silloway Gymnasium court on Saturday, Nov. 26, to take on Baruch College. The Redbirds suffered from another slow start, falling behind 17-10. Wesleyan refused to endure a second straight loss, however, outscoring Baruch 27 to 13 over the rest of the first half and scoring the first 12 points of the second. Their defense keyed the decisive stretch as the Cardinals held the Bearcats without a field goal during a 22-3 run over an 11-minute period. Although they fell behind early, the Cards were never rattled, asserting their dominance en route to a 70-46 win.
On Tuesday, Nov. 29, Wesleyan hosted its fourth home game, looking to improve upon its 3-0 home record against Framingham State. Again, the Cardinals failed to dominate from the get-go, falling behind by 10 both before and after halftime. The game swung back and forth, each team making a run to counter the other, until the final 16 minutes. For the next 11 minutes, neither team led by more than three, but Wes once again asserted itself, going on a 19-8 run over the last five minutes to secure an 88-76 win. Brown led the charge, scoring 18 second-half points after netting just two before halftime. In the last two minutes, he scored his 1,000th career point, making him only the 18th male Wesleyan basketball player in history to reach 1,000 points, and the fastest of those to do so. He accomplished the feat 12 games sooner than Kanem Johnson ’04, who is the current all-time leading scorer at Wesleyan with 1,692 points.
Brown looked to inch closer to Johnson’s record as the Cardinals played Emmanuel College on Thursday, Dec. 1, after The Argus went to print.