After suffering a heartbreaking overtime loss against Tufts on Friday, Wesleyan’s men’s basketball team was neck and neck with another NESCAC powerhouse, in Bates, as the game came down to the wire on Saturday. Thanks to a last second bucket by freshman Will Griffin with the game tied at 52, the Cards stunned the top ranked team in the conference and defined themselves as a potent threat to be reckoned with as the season comes down to its final stages.
Like the contest against Tufts the night before, the Cards found themselves in a hole as the game came down to its final minutes. Trailing by six with just over two minutes remaining, the Cards came back and eventually tied the game at 52 with a pair of clutch free throws by Rob Kelly ’06. After an off-balance jumper by Bates missed the mark, Kelly grabbed the rebound with seven seconds remaining and spotted Griffin sprinting down the court. With an on-target pass to Griffin at half court, the freshman drove down the rest of the court and just beat the buzzer with an acrobatic four-foot jumper to propel the Cards to victory.
“There were still about seven seconds left and the shot looked like it was coming up short and I figured that if I sprinted out we might get a chance to get the final shot,” Griffin said. “I tried to get all the way to the basket, but he cut me off and I knew there wasn’t a lot of time so I had to just try to get the best shot I could. It was definitely the biggest shot of my career.”
The Cards exploded for 41 points in the second half after managing just 13 in the first. Despite the offensive struggles early on, several players in foul trouble, and having to play without starting point guard Jarred Ashe ’07, Wesleyan’s defensive intensity was critical in limiting Bates to just 16 points in the first half.
“Our defense is the trademark of this team,” said coach Jerry McDowell. “We have defended well all year long; we haven’t given up any second chances. Since we are a very patient team on offense, we don’t give too many teams opportunities on their end of the floor. Our offensive ability leads to good play on our defense.”
The offensive explosion in the second half was led by captain Tim Holland ’05, who led all players with 21 points, 15 of those coming from beyond the three point arc. Kelly also contributed eleven points and nine boards down low. After three consecutive losses all in the final minutes of games with conference opponents, the victory over Bates solidified the team’s fifth place standing in the conference and was a huge confidence booster for the squad.
“It was extremely important to come back and beat Bates,” said Kelly. “We couldn’t lose two back-to-back games like that. It was important not to fall below that .500 record, so we can try to get that first NESCAC playoff game at home.”
The game against Tufts appeared out of reach after the Cardinals fell behind ten points with just over two minutes left; however, the Cardinals fed off the energy of the home crowd and scored the last 10 points of the game to force overtime. Despite building a five-point lead in overtime, the squad came out on the bottom end of an 84-83 score by the game’s conclusion.
The Cards were led by Kelly’s career high 34 points and 10 rebounds, followed by Holland’s 22 points and freshman Nick Pelletier’s 16 points. With Holland and Kelly the main focus of the defense, Pelletier has stepped up his offensive play, often times calling for the ball and shooting with confidence. At the beginning of the season, the casual observer might have laughed at the proposition of the men’s basketball team being one of the leading contenders in the conference, especially with the top two scorers from last year having graduated, but with their impressive play within the conference, especially against the teams contending for the conference title, several heads have begun to turn.
“I have a ton of confidence in this team,” Griffin said. “I can’t wait until the NESCAC tournament. We had second half leads at Amherst and Trinity on the road. We had Tufts on the ropes, and we beat Bates. We can definitely beat anyone in this league, especially when Jarred Ashe comes back from his ankle injury.”
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