While most Wesleyan students were home relaxing over winter break, the men’s basketball team was hard at work here on campus. Clearly, the team’s effort has paid off. The 15-5 record is the program’s best since the 2001-02 season.
Since The Argus last went to press on Dec. 8, the team has gone 8-4, with impressive wins over Williams (ranked 12th in Division III) and Tufts and a close loss to Middlebury (ranked first). The Cards also recovered from a two-point loss to Amherst (sixth) to defeat the Lord Jeffs by one in the teams’ second matchup.
Wesleyan started the season on a 9-1 streak that included a run of seven wins in a row. The team won those nine games by an average of 16 points, the second-best record through 10 games in school history.
After defeating Westfield State in a 61-58 thriller on Dec. 8, the Cardinals crushed the Merchant Marine Academy on Dec. 10 with a 75-53 score to give them that early 9-1 record. A long break for the squad was followed by a New Year’s weekend tournament at Catholic University, in which the Cards lost their first game to eventual champ Buffalo State University by a tight 80-77 margin but recovered to beat the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts by eight in the consolation game.
The tournament included a couple of milestones for the Cardinals though, as Mike Callaghan ’13 registered his fifth career double-double against MCLA and was named to the all-tournament team. Meanwhile, tri-captain Jason Mendell ’12 scored his 1,000th career point in the same game, becoming just the 19th player in school history and the second this year to do so, the first being the team’s leading scorer, tri-captain Shasha Brown ’13 in November.
Nearly a week later, on Friday, Jan. 6, the Cards began NESCAC play against powerhouse Amherst, ranked sixth in the country at the time, and didn’t back down without a fight. Despite recovering from a 10-point halftime deficit behind Mendell’s 18 points, Wes was unable to hold on to their one-point lead with just over four minutes left as Amherst won, 66-64.
Despite the tough loss and another road game at Trinity the very next day, the team recovered well. The Bantams never had a chance in the second half, falling behind by as many as 21 points at times, losing 73-58 to the Cardinals. Brown led the way with an outstanding 21 points, nine assists, six rebounds, and five steals.
The following weekend, Wesleyan played host to rivals Williams and Middlebury, easily defeating the Ephs 66-43 on Friday, Jan. 13 before facing undefeated Midd, the top-ranked team in the land, on Saturday. The difference in the game was in the teams’ free throw performances, as Wesleyan made just five of their 13 free throws while Middlebury made 14 of 20, the result being a heartbreaking 65-62 loss. However, the weekend’s silver lining for the Cards was the fact that they beat Williams, the Little Three rival responsible for the team’s only loss in their first 10 games of the season, by the largest margin since Feb. 2, 1985, and could have easily beaten the best team in the country had they made more free throws.
The following week saw the Cardinals win a pair of nail-biters against Amherst and Tufts, avenging the earlier close loss to the Lord Jeffs by a 68-67 score on Tuesday the 17th and earning another one-point win against Tufts on Friday the 20th. Brown scored the deciding points in both games, making two free throws with two seconds left against Amherst and making an ECAC-Play-of-the-Week-nominated, buzzer-beating floater against Tufts.
Wesleyan was a bit worn out by its two intense games that week when they faced Bates on Saturday, and the Bobcats were able to pull away in the second half for a 77-60 victory.
The Cardinals last played on Saturday, Jan. 28, hosting Connecticut College at home and earning their 15th win of the year with a 61-57 win. The game was tied with seven seconds left, but Derick Beresford ’13 made a pair of free throws to put the Cards up two before the defense forced a Conn College turnover and Callaghan iced the game with another pair from the line.
The last time the Cardinals won 16 games or more was the 1990-91 season, when they won 18, the most in school history. Wesleyan has a chance to eclipse that record this year, as wins in each of their last four games would give them 19 on the season. Their first test comes on Wednesday, Feb. 1, at home against non-conference in-state rival Eastern Connecticut.