MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Looking to finish off what is already the program's most-successful regular season in well over 100 years, the Wesleyan men's basketball team added a few more notches to their belt in a 101-65 home win over Bowdoin on Sunday afternoon. Wesleyan (21-3, 9-1 NESCAC) shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the floor while scoring 100+ points against a NESCAC foe for just the second time in team history and the first time since a 106-98 win over Middlebury back on February 7, 2003.
On a day where the Cardinals missed very few shots, strong performances littered the box score including a game-high 24 points from Sam Peek '22 who went 10-for-16 from the floor and 2-of-5 from deep as he carries a 18.8 points per game average heading into postseason play.
Nicky Johnson '25 continued to stuff the stat sheet with another stellar all-around day that included 17 points (6-6 FG, 5-6 FT), nine assists, four rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes. Jordan James '22 tallied 13 points (6-7 FG) with four rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals in just 25 minutes. Shackylle Dezonie '23 also tallied 15 points (7-8 FG) while Antone Walker '22 scored 11 to give Wesleyan five players in double figures.
The Cardinals head into postseason play having wrapped up a landmark regular season that set new records across the board. Wesleyan went 9-1 in league play, surpassing a previous program record for most NESCAC wins in a single-season with seven that the Cardinals accomplished twice (most recently in 2017-18). Wesleyan is just one win away from matching the single-season record of 22 set in the 2017-18 season. The Cardinals also head into the postseason with the No. 1 seed in the NESCAC Tournament for the first time in program history.
Wesleyan got off to a positive start in the early going, building an 8-2 lead less than two minutes into play as both James and Johnson converted three-point plays. Johnson continued to assert himself in the early going, scoring on a floater in the lane in transition as he scored nine of his 17 points in the opening 6:04 of the game.
The Cardinals continued to set the tone and rattled off a 10-0 run midway through the first half to build a 28-13 advantage. Baskets from five different Cardinals highlighted a balanced attack that resulted in a stellar offensive output.
Bowdoin hung around throughout the latter stages of the first half, cutting the Wesleyan lead down to eight a couple times before the Cardinals went on a dominating 7-0 run in a span of just over a minute as it was Johnson again playing a big role, starting with a three-point play then throwing a lob up for James and capping the run with a jumper just outside the lane to make it 45-30 at the halftime break.
The two sides traded baskets for a great deal of the second half as the Polar Bears cut the Cardinal lead down to as few as 12 points in the second half but the game was already well in-hand following a first half wherein the Cardinals shot 59.4 percent as a team.
Bowdoin trailed 72-56 with 10:57 let but after that point, the Cardinals blitzed the Polar Bears with a 29-9 run (+20) that resulted in the 101-65 victory.
As a team, Wesleyan shot 21-for-32 (65.6 percent) in the second half alone while the Cardinals went 40-for-64 (62.5 percent) as a team for the game. Wesleyan outscored Bowdoin 29-4 in fast break points while the Cardinals nearly doubled up the Polar Bears (58-30) in points in the paint.
Wesleyan awaits word of the final NESCAC Tournament pairings on Monday.
