FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – Wesleyan has responded well after suffering their first loss of the season against Williams back on December 4^th. They defeated Manhattanville on Thursday, followed by a close victory today against Farmingdale State 85-80. The Cardinals held a 19-point lead at one point in the second half, but a furious comeback by the Rams had the game within a possession in the final minute before some clutch free throw shooting put Farmingdale State away.

Wesleyan continues their hot start to the season, improving to 9-1. They stay undefeated away from Silloway Gymnasium, improving to 5-0 on the year. Farmingdale State falls to 4-6 on the year, snapping their two-game win streak.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Nicky Johnson '25 and Preston Maccoux '23 each hit three pointers to open up the game, giving the Cardinals a 6-0 lead. Teddy Lowen '22 got the start with Antone Walker '22 out, and delivered an and one to push the Cardinals lead to 9-5
• Gabe Ravetz '23 got hot from three midway through the first half, hitting three from long distance in five possessions to extend the Cardinals lead to 14 with 10 minutes remaining. Wesleyan let it fly in the first half, shooting 23 (7/23, 30%) of their 39 shots from beyond the arc as a team.
• The Rams cut into the lead by getting to the free throw line in the first half. They made 10 of their 12 attempts, mainly coming late in the first period to trim the Cardinals lead to five.  Wesleyan responded with a 7-2 run to end the half, to give them a 10-point lead. Ravetz led the way for the Cardinals at the break with 12 points on 4/13 shooting off the bench. The Rams were led by Dominique Senat (nine points) who did most of his damage at the free throw line
• The two teams traded 5-0 runs to begin the second 20 minutes, with the Rams cutting the lead to five before a Jordan James '22 layup and Maccoux deep ball pushed the lead right back up to 10 with 17 minutes remaining
• The Wesleyan defense picked it up, holding the Rams without a field goal over the next 4 ½ minutes, as they extended the margin to 18.
• Sam Peek '22 got going as well, scoring 15 of his 25 points in the 2^nd half as he dueled with Zamere Mckenzie (19 2^nd half points) while trying to help propel the Cardinals to their second straight victory
• Peek seemed to have an answer for every Rams' bucket over the next couple of minutes, and with Ravetz's 7^th three of the night falling through it looked like the Cardinals were finally going to put the game away up 13 with just over 2 ½ minutes left
• Rams went on a furious 14-4 run to cut the lead to one possession with five seconds remaining. Peek iced the game with two free throws in the final seconds to give the Cardinals their 9^th win of the year

INSIDE THE NUMBERS:

• Gabe Ravetz had career-highs in both points (21) and three pointers (7)
• Sam Peek now has back-to-back 25-point performances
• Wesleyan only had eight total turnovers; a season-low
• Cardinals have now shot 298 three-point attempts, ranking them top 20 nationally (teams with 10 games played or fewer)

WHAT'S NEXT:
Wesleyan will be a participant in the Franklin and Marshall tournament up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania on December 29^th and 30^th. They will open up against Wilkes.