MIDDLEBURY, VT- Men's basketball pulls away late in the 2^nd half from NESCAC foe Middlebury to secure the 83-67 victory Saturday afternoon. Wesleyan was in a back-and-forth battle in the first half, as each team held the lead for moments before the Cardinals finished the half strong to hold a five-point advantage. A big putback dunk by Jordan James '22 with nine minutes remaining was the key moment of the game, changing the momentum back into the Cardinals' favor. From then on, Wesleyan wouldn't look back going on 19-2 run over the next seven minutes to put the game out of reach.

Wesleyan passes the first of two big challenges against the other top teams in the NESCAC this week. Wesleyan will now have to travel to Massachusetts in a rematch with the 13^th nationally ranked Williams Ephs who gave Wesleyan their first loss of the season back at Silloway Gymnasium on December 4^th. Wesleyan improves to 18-3 (6-1 NESCAC) while Middlebury drops to 16-4 (6-2 NESCAC).

Two senior captains led the way for the Cardinals, as Sam Peek '22 and Jordan James '22 combined for 39 points and 21 rebounds to help bring home Wesleyan's 2^nd straight win. James dominated on both ends of the floor scoring 23 points while also blocking three shots and recording three steals. Peek did his work both the inside and outside, nailing two of his four three-point attempts to finish with 16 points to go with his 12 rebounds.

Two other Cardinals reached double figures with Preston Maccoux '23 finishing with 13 (3/11 FG) while Nicky Johnson '25 contributed 12 (3/9 FG). They also got nice contributions from players off the bench, with Antone Walker '22 having seven points and two rebounds and Shackylle Dezonie '23 having eight points and two rebounds.

Middlebury held a lead for most of the 1^st half, before a Peek three-pointer with 12 minutes left finally gave the Cardinals their first lead since the opening possessions of the game. Peek followed that up with a fastbreak layup and it seemed like the Cardinals had gained some momentum heading into the final minutes of the half.

Middlebury responded, and over the next few minutes the game had multiple lead changes. Noah Osher (18 points) completed an and one to tie the game back up with only two and a half minutes left. Wesleyan would end the half strong with a 5-0 run to keep a 40-35 advantage going into halftime.

After two Maccoux free throws three minutes into the 2^nd half, Wesleyan looked like they were going to make their run going up eight, but the Panthers wouldn't go away. They fought their way back to a tie with 14 minutes on another Osher bucket. The game would continue to go back and forth until the nine minute mark where a James putback dunk changed the momentum of the game. Wesleyan would go on a 19-2 run from then on to finish with a 16-point victory.

Middlebury was led by Noah Osher and Alex Sobel who scored 18 points a piece. Wesleyan finished the game shooting 45.6% from the field and 7/23 from beyond the arc compared to 43.8% from the field and 6/18 from beyond the arc for Middlebury. Wesleyan faces off against 13^th ranked Williams College Monday the 7^th in a battle of the two best teams in the NESCAC.