The men’s basketball team came into last weekend needing a win to solidify its prospects for reaching the NESCAC tournament. Instead, the Cards (6-14, 2-5 NESCAC) dropped lopsided decisions to Trinity (95-57) and Amherst (81-56), falling to the bottom of the conference standings.
At 23-0 overall and ranked first nationally, Amherst beat the struggling Cardinals handily. But Wesleyan put up a good fight, shooting 44 percent from the floor in the first half and trailing by only six at the break.
Nick Pelletier ’08 and Rob Kelly ’07 combined for 23 points and 11 boards while co-captain Jared Ashe ’07 dished out seven assists. Despite playing soundly on both sides of the ball for the first 20 minutes, the Lord Jeffs broke away from the Red and Black in the second half, shooting 65 percent from the floor and 60 percent from behind the arc.
“To beat Amherst, you have to play an almost perfect game and we played far from perfect,” said co-captain Jimmy Shepherd ’07. “We needed to guard their three-point shooters, and we couldn’t do it.”
Just as in the last meeting between these two sides over winter break, Amherst sent out a bevy of players with strong scoring capabilities. The Jeffs saw three players reach double figures, with Dan Wheeler (6-9 from three-point land) leading the way with 28 points.
The night before, the Cards were outmatched by a determined Trinity squad that jumped out to a 21-8 lead and never looked back. Kelly was the lone Cardinal in double figures, putting home 16 points and grabbing six boards.
The Cardinals simply couldn’t keep the Bantams off the board, though, as the lead ballooned to 41 points at several times in the second half.
Wesleyan will try to get back on the winning track tonight at Salve Regina (10-9).
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