Heading into the conference playoffs, the men’s basketball team hoped that history would not repeat itself. Last year, in the first round of the NESCAC championships, Wesleyan rolled over Bowdoin, only to come up short against a strong Middlebury squad that it had played close during the regular season. This year the same story unfolded. After taking Middlebury to OT in January, only to lose in a 78-77 nailbiter, the sixth-seeded Cardinals (12-12 overall, 4-6 NESCAC) went on the road to take on the  third-ranked Panthers (21-2 overall, 8-2 NESCAC), only to be bested yet again by their rivals to the north.

In the early going, it appeared as though the Cardinals would rewrite history. The first half saw strong play from big man Glen Thomas ’14, who scored all but 3 of his 11 total points before the break. Wes utilized Thomas’ offense to good effect and was able to take a minor 24-21 deficit into the half. While the Panthers only led by three, they had still never fallen behind in the game, and unfortunately they never would. A flurry of shots gave Middlebury a quick lead to start the second half, putting the game out of reach for the Cardinals and sending them home with a 61-49 loss.

The offense switched from a balanced first half attack to a singularly focused second-half display. The Cardinals managed to score 28 second-half points, but captain Mike Callaghan ’13 was responsible for 15 of them. Callaghan has been dominant in stretches this year, but this output seemed to be less due to his dominance and more due to the team’s inability to put the ball in the hoop. The Cardinals only shot 32 percent from the floor for the day, and that kind of inefficiency wasn’t going to knock off one of the nation’s best teams. Callaghan and Thomas dominated the boards as per usual, grabbing 8 and 12, respectively, but getting boards wasn’t enough to overcome a Panther squad that shot 48.9 percent from the floor and, more impressively, 43.8 percent from beyond the arc.

Even with a hard-to-stomach end to the season, the Cardinals pay thanks to the seniors who have helped the program in many ways, great and small, since they first laced up in Cardinal Red four years ago. The Wesleyan community thanks Derick Beresford, Shasha Brown, Mike Callaghan, Matt Hogan, and Greg St. Jean for four years of heart, leadership, and success. Their talent and leadership will be missed.