MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan men's basketball team cruised to a 78-44 win over the Sage Colleges on Friday night in its 2019-20 season opener on day one of the annual Herb Kenny Tip-Off Tournament in Silloway Gymnasium.

Sam Peek led the Cardinals with 17 points while Jordan James posted a double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds as Wesleyan advances to the championship game of the tournament tomorrow at 3 p.m. against Clark University (1-2). The Gators, who were led by Jalon Borders' team-high 13 points, lose their first game of the season (2-1) and will play Maine-Presque Isle (0-1) in the consolation game tomorrow at 1 p.m.

FIRST HALF HIGHLIGHTS:

• The game went back-and-forth for most of the half with neither team able to pull away.
• With 9:30 remaining in the half, Preston Maccoux hit a layup for the Cardinals to tie the game at 14-14.
• From there, the home team outscored the Gators 21-5 to close out the half.
• Gabe Millstein hit a three-pointer with 2:02 on the clock to give Wesleyan a 28-19 lead and he drilled another one with only three seconds remaining as the Cardinals went into the locker room up 35-19.
• Sage went scoreless the final 4:04 of the half.

SECOND HALF HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Gators slowly cut into the Wesleyan lead early in the second half and a three-pointer from Borders at the 13:46 mark cut the deficit to five, 42-37. However, it proved to be the closest they would get the rest of the way.
• The home team rallied with a 10-0 run capped off by a layup from Antone Walker at the 10:45 mark.
• Just over three minutes later, Gabe Ravetz essentially put the game out of reach as he hit one from behind-the-arc to extend the lead to 24 (63-39) with 7:18 on the clock.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Peek finished with 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting while pulling in nine rebounds. Walker led all players with five assists and Millstein dropped 12 points off the bench on 4 of 9 shooting from deep in his first collegiate game.
• Deonte Sherwood and Mitchell joined Borders in double-digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Jason Geronimo led the team with eight boards and Mitchell dished out two assists.