MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – It was a special night for the Wesleyan men's basketball team in multiple facets as the Cardinals took down Purchase, 109-60, on Wednesday night. In what was the Cardinals' first home game since February 9, 2020, Wesleyan certainly couldn't have scripted a much better return to Silloway as the team broke the school record for most made three-pointers in a game (20) as well as the school's single-game assists record (37). Wesleyan improves to 3-0 on the young season while the Panthers drop to 0-3.
 
Wesleyan cranked up the tempo in tonight's game, giving Purchase all sorts of problems in the open floor which helped translate to a seismic 51-9 advantage for Wesleyan in fast break points for the game. With the pace cranked up, Wesleyan's guards found their spots on the wing and hit their three's all night long, going 11-for-20 (55 percent) in the first half followed by a 9-for-18 effort (50 percent) in the second half to account for the school record 20 three-point makes, surpassing the previous program record 18 set on Feb. 20, 2015 against Hamilton.
   
Preston Maccoux '23 was the big benefactor of the style of play for the night as he recorded a career-high 23 points, 17 of which were scored in the first half, in just 19 minutes of action. Maccoux did most of his damage from behind the arc as he went 7-for-10 for the game from three-point range, falling just two shy of the single-game program record. He also added six assists and four rebounds with no turnovers in an all-around terrific outing.
 
Wesleyan dished out a program record 37 assists as a team, easily surpassing the previous school record 33 which had stood for over 33 years as the Cardinals last posted 33 back on Feb. 17, 1988 against Emerson. Nicky Johnson '25 led all players with seven assists while Maccoux added six, Gabe Ravetz '22 had six, Shackylle Dezonie '23 tallied five and Antone Walker '22 went for four. In all, eight different Cardinals recorded at least two assists on the night.
 
Other players in double figures for Wesleyan included Sam Peek '22 (14 points, 6-9 FG, 2-4 3FG), Walker (12 points, 3-4 3FG, six rebounds and four assists) and Ravetz (12 points, 4-7 3FG six assists and four rebounds). Thirteen Cardinals scored a field goal on the night while all 16 Wesleyan players who dressed, played during the game. The 109 points for Wesleyan is the team's highest single-game point total since a 111-39 win over Albertus Magnus back on Dec. 9, 2000 (471 games ago).
 
Just two minutes into the game it was 9-2 Wesleyan as Maccoux started things off with a three-pointer followed by Jordan James '22 on the receiving end of a pair of lofted passes from Cardinal drives into the lane. The lead later swelled to 19-5 Cardinals as Ravetz hit from long range just 30 seconds after Walker connected from deep on the fast break.
 
Purchase found some footing as the Cardinal lead remained at 14 for over six minutes, before Wesleyan had a strong push in the final 8+ minutes as the Panthers were outscored 24-13 for the remainder of the half as Wesleyan held a commanding 57-32 halftime lead.
 
The Wesleyan lead grew to 49 with over eight minutes remaining as Walker finished a fast break feed from Johnson to make it 95-46 Cardinals as the two sides finished the game with the same 49-point margin at 109-60 in favor of Wesleyan.
 
Purchase was led by James Brady who scored 18 points in 33 minutes while Malcolm Hansford-Whyte reached double-figures with 16 points in just 24 minutes. The Wesleyan defense put on a clinic, limiting the Panthers to just 20-for-71 shooting (28.2 percent) from the floor.
 
Wesleyan looks to continue their torrid start to the season at home this weekend in the annual Herb Kenny Tournament. The Cardinals will open play on Saturday at 5:30 PM with a matchup against Pratt Institute. The winner of that game will face the winner of the 7:30 tilt between Mitchell and WPI. The two losing sides will face one another at 12:30 PM on Sunday while the Herb Kenny Championship game is slated for 2:30 PM on Sunday.