Going into the season, opposing teams knew they would have to reckon with two of the best players in the conference when they faced Wesleyan: Kanem Johnson ’04 and Keala Mills ’04.
This past Sunday, R.P.I. met its match in one of the most dominating performances in Wesleyan men’s basketball history, Kanem Johnson had a record-setting performance, netting a career high 42 points in the consolation round of the Holiday Inn tournament. Johnson’s 42 points is the second highest scoring total in Wesleyan history, behind a 44 point show by Wink Davenport.
“Kanem was on a roll. We were able to move better offensively, and everyone was aware of where Kanem was. As a result, he was able to hit a high percentage of his shots,” said Head Coach Gerry McDowell of Johnson’s record setting night.
“I give credit to my teammates. I had great timing with them,” said Johnson.
For his efforts, Johnson was named to the all-tournament team.
Despite Johnson’s record setting performance, not even a furious comeback could save the Cardinals from an early deficit as they fell 98-94 against R.P.I.
On Wednesday night, the Cardinals picked up an 80-67 victory over Eastern Connecticut State University.
“We were able to move a lot more offensively,” said Mills, “This was the best defense we have played all year.”
The height advantage of Johnson, Robert Kelly ’06, Ryan Ewers ’06 and Moritz Kraus proved to be too much for Eastern Connecticut on the defensive end.
During the contest, the Wesleyan offense was able to execute its offense with perfection, penetrating the Connecticut defense to get easy buckets. Johnson led the scoring with 21 points, while Mills displayed his outside touch and ability to penetrate the lane en route to eighteen points. Robert Kelly ’06 provided a presence down low, posting eleven points, while Blake Curry ’07 added eleven points off the bench.
The basketball team downed Emmanuel College for their second victory on Tuesday night, by a score of 102-86.
“We were able to move the ball well. They didn’t get after us on defense, and we were very patient on the offensive end. As a result, we had high percentage shots,” said McDowell.
Mills posted a game high 29 points, and Johnson was right behind him with 28 more. Tim Holland ’06 also added ten points.
The Cardinals have been on a roll so far this season. They opened up the season with a dominating 75-57 win over Gallaudet University in the first round of the Marriott Tip-Off Tournament. Hot shooting from the perimeter by Holland and P.J. Loussedes ’06 paced the team early on, while tenacious defense combined with the offensive prowess of
Johnson and Mills sparked a 20-5 run at the start of the second half to put the game out of reach.
In the finals of the tournament, against Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham, the
Cardinals had a ferocious rally from twenty points down to cut the lead to two points late in the second half, but fell short with a final score 87-78. Mills led the comeback charge with an unbelievable display of shooting from the field in the second half. For their efforts, both Johnson and Mills were named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Cardinals now hold a 3-3 record overall as they head to Northfield, Vt. for a tournament at Norwich University this weekend.
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