Arya Alizadeh/Staff Photographer
On this past Thursday, the Wesleyan men’s basketball team continued its string of non-conference games by playing and defeating Emmanuel College by a score of 88-61. After the victory the Cardinals headed into the weekend to play the Hockenbury Classic tournament, hosted by Norwich University. The Cardinals lost on Saturday in their first game to eventual tournament champion Babson College by a score of 61-70. They fared better in the consolation matchup by besting Mitchell College by 82-52 on a day that Babson snuck by host Norwich 60-56 to take home the tournament in a nail-biter. All in all, the weekend was a successful one for the Cardinals, as they ended with a winning record of 2-1, but it was likely disappointing that they were unable to compete for a chance in the tournament, even after such a strong showing in the semifinal game.
The contest at home against Emmanuel was a welcome confidence booster heading into what was sure to be a competitive weekend. Wes jumped out to a large 41-21 lead going into the half, and rested starters while still beating Emmanuel 47-40 in the second half. Even with a good deal of rest, Wes still managed to outscore Emmanuel in both halves, proving its depth from top to bottom. Also proving the depth of a strong Wes team was the continued performance of three of the senior captains. Derick Beresford ’13, Shasha Brown ’13, and Mike Callaghan ’13 all scored in the double digits in the win with 12, 18, and 13 points, respectively. They were augmented by starting forward Julian Harris ’14, who added 17 of his own along with 10 rebounds for a double-double. Wesleyan had 10 different players score in the game, proof that even outside of its senior core, it is a formidable squad that fully anticipates a place at the top of the NESCAC leader boards.
The first game of the Hockenbury Classic was forgettable by the high standards that Wes has held itself to all season, not simply because they lost, but because they were edged out by a slim margin without ever being truly outplayed all game. The first half concluded with a 35-28 advantage for Babson, and Wes was unable to muster any real counterattack, failing to outscore Babson in the second half by a margin of just two points, 35-33. An ineffectual Cardinal offense shot only 39 percent from the floor, and even more disheartening, only two players scored in double digits. Beresford and Callaghan who contributed 11 and 20, respectively, combining for more than half of their team’s points. Harris added eight points of his own to complement a team-high of seven rebounds, while Brown threw in five assists with his six points in the losing effort.
Though the first half of the game against Mitchell was much tighter than the Cardinals had anticipated (taking only a 36-28 lead into the half), they made short work of the tournament losers after that, stringing together a 12-2 run in the opening five minutes of the half to blast wide open a lead that they would retain handily for the remainder of the game. In total, Wesleyan outscored Mitchell 46-24 in the second half, turning a game that seemed somewhat close early on into a blowout. Rashid Epps ’16 led the team in scoring off the bench, contributing 15 on 7-12 shooting while grabbing a whopping 15 boards for a huge double-double. The Cards had three other scorers in double figures, as the usual suspects showed up to play. Brown chipped in 12 points and six assists, while Callaghan added 12 points as well along with eight rebounds. Freshman guard BJ Davis made his mark off of the bench by chipping in 11 along with a team-high four steals for good measure.
Wesleyan continues its non-conference schedule this week, traveling to Westfield State University on Wednesday, Dec. 5 to begin a three-game road trip.