BOSTON, Mass. – On a night where Nicky Johnson '26 set a new career-high with 26 points, the Wesleyan men's basketball team couldn't dig out of a 15-point deficit in the first half as the Cardinals fell to Emmanuel, 72-68, on Tuesday night. The Cardinals head into Thanksgiving break with a 1-3 record while the Saints are now 2-3.
 
It was a lethargic start to this one that put the Cardinals behind the eight-ball early, seeing Emmanuel jump out to a 12-4 lead which forced a Wesleyan timeout just 3:53 into play. The Cougars continued to pour it on in the early going, riding a 10-2 run to give Emmanuel their biggest lead of the game at 34-19 with 5:20 left in the half.
 
However, a Gabe Ravetz '23 three-pointer came at just the right time as that kick started a 13-1 run to close the half for the Cardinals. Threes came raining in as Alex Justh '26 hit from long range and so did Johnson with just four seconds left on the clock as the Cardinals only trailed by three at the break.
 
 Emmanual led by as many as nine points in the second half before a late run from the Cardinals made it just a one-score game in the closing minutes. Ravetz continued to hit the three-ball, first with 2:33 left that made it 62-59 Emmanual and again just over a minute later that made it 64-62 Cougars.
 
After forcing a Cougar turnover, Wesleyan had the ball with a minute to go trailing by just two, but Johnson turned the ball over on the ensuing possession only to see Ryan Grijalva score from inside the paint to bring it back to a four-point margin.
 
Needing to foul late on, Emmanuel cashed in on all six of their attempts from the free throw line in the final 24 seconds, denying a comeback bid for the Cardinals who trailed by just one with seven seconds left after a Johnson triple. After Grijalva answered the Johson three with a pair of free throws with six seconds left, the Cougars fouled Johnson immediately up by three points in the backcourt to prevent any game-tying three-point attempt.
 
Johnson made the first free throw, intentionally missing the second as just four seconds remained but Ken Jean-Francois cleaned up the glass and hit both free throws after being fouled to seal a 72-68 victory for the Cougars.
 
Johnson contributed across the board for Wesleyan, on top of his career-high 26 points he added eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals while playing all 40 minutes. Ravetz hit 6-of-10 from three as the senior finished with 18 points to go along with four rebounds and three steals.
 
Donte Pope led Emmanuel with 19 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. Four other Cougars finished with 10+ points including 13 from Jean-Francois and 11 to go along with eight rebounds from Ted Weber.
 
Wesleyan looks to get back in the win column with a home game slated for Saturday against Farmingdale State at 2:00 PM from Sillowan Gymnasium.