The Cardinal men’s basketball team got back to work after a short winter break with a berth in the Naismith Classic in Springfield. In the opening game on Jan. 2, Wesleyan lost 70-68 in a nail-biter against SUNY-Purchase, but the Cards recovered to dominate Salve Regina, 88-71, in the consolation game the next day. Shasha Brown ’13 continued his outstanding rookie season and was named to the All-Tournament team for the third time this year, despite failing to score in double figures for the first time in his career in the opener. He rebounded from his eight point effort against Purchase to command the game against Salve Regina with 21 points, nine assists, four steals and two rebounds. The Cardinals beat down the Seahawks from the opening tip, starting the game with a 16-3 run. Although Salve made its own 9-0 run to bring the score to 16-12, Wes opened up a 10 point lead with an 8-2 run, and the Seahawks never got the lead below double digits again.
Soon after, on Jan. 6, the Cardinals played their second Little Three (but non-NESCAC) game of the season, hanging tough against Amherst, ranked ninth nationally at the time. The Lord Jeffs built a 41-17 lead in the first half, and although the Cardinals reduced that lead to four twice in the second period, and just five with 20 seconds left, Amherst was too calm and collected at the line in the end, making seven of eight free throws to ice their 81-72 win.
After a short break, the Cardinals took on NYU at home on Jan. 11, an unpleasant affair that saw the Violets score the game’s first 13 points, lead by as many as 30, and win 99-78. The subpar performance seemed to carry over to the opening minutes of the team’s game against Bard the next day, in which the Raptors accumulated an 18-10 lead during the first six minutes. But Wesleyan rebounded nicely, going on a 20-2 run during the final six minutes of the half to gain an 11-point lead at halftime, and the Cardinals broke the game open with a 29-14 outburst to start the second half. They maintained at least a 20-point lead the rest of the way to ensure an 86-64 win. Jeremy Kaminer ’10 scored a game-high 19, making five of seven three-pointers.
Three days later, the Cardinals tried to carry some of that momentum into their second game against Amherst in 10 days, which also happened to be their NESCAC opener. This time, Wes hung around early but began fading just before halftime. With nine minutes gone, the Cardinals were down just one point, but were unable to slow the Lord Jeffs after that, falling victim to a 22-7 Amherst run and a 43-29 halftime deficit. No comeback materialized in the second half as the Lord Jeffs cruised to an 87-71 win. Brown and Kaminer were again lone bright spots and leading scorers for the Cardinals, with 21 and 14 points respectively.
A night after the Amherst loss, the Cardinals traveled to Trinity on Jan. 16 for their second straight NESCAC contest. This one was much closer, with the lead seesawing back and forth. The Bantams led by as many as 11 in the first half, but the Cardinals recovered in the second to lead by as many as six. Trinity went on a 13-0 tear after that, however, and the closest the Cardinals came the rest of the way was two down with a minute left. Despite the 74-40 defeat, Mike Callaghan ’13 stood out, continuing a remarkable freshman campaign with 17 points.
After almost a week off, the Cardinals started slow yet again when they hosted Williams on Friday, Jan. 22. They fell behind 26-13 halfway through the first period, but went on a 13-3 run keyed by Brown’s 11 points (he finished with 20) and eventually were down only six at halftime. The Ephs, however, proved why they are ranked fifth in Division III, holding off numerous Cardinal second-half runs to win 79-63 and drop Wesleyan to 0-3 in conference play.
Wes faced another brutal back-to-back with 10th-ranked Middlebury coming to town the next night. Despite three straight tough losses, the Cardinals performed admirably, refusing to let the Panthers pull away. Neither team led by more than five for the first 15 minutes, and when Midd used a 10-0 run to gain a 40-30 halftime lead, the Cardinals responded with a 14-4 run to open the second and tie the game. After that, the Panthers didn’t lead by more than six until they made two straight threes with four minutes left for seven points of breathing room, then holding on for the 77-69 win.
The Cardinals were back in action Monday night, after The Argus went to press, with another game against Salve Regina, this time at home.
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