WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – In a clash between two of the top teams in the league, the Wesleyan men's basketball team used a +34 rebounding margin, combined with holding Williams to less than 40 percent shooting, to walk away with a dominating 97-52 road win. Wesleyan (19-3, 7-1 NESCAC) moves into the driver's seat atop the NESCAC standings, needing a win over either Colby or Bowdoin in their final two regular season games to clinch the top seed in the upcoming NESCAC Tournament. Playing in their first game since Jan. 22, Williams (14-2, 4-2 NESCAC) looks to finish the regular season strong and get healthy in time for postseason play starting next weekend.
 
Meeting for the 245^th time, the Cardinals matched a record as their 45-point margin of victory is tied for the largest win ever for Wesleyan in the series history. The first and only other time Wesleyan has defeated Williams by the same margin came back on Feb. 21, 1970 when the Cardinals defeated the Ephs 91-46 in Williamstown. In addition, the 97 points scored by Wesleyan is tied for the second-highest scoring total by the Cardinals in a game against the Ephs, having last scored 97 back on Feb. 2, 1985. The single-game scoring record for Wesleyan against Williams came in a 107-68 home win back on March 1, 1969. This win also snapped a seven-game losing stream for Wesleyan against Williams while the Cardinals exacted some revenge after the Ephs handed Wesleyan their first loss of the season back on Dec. 4 in a 69-60 defeat.

After tonight's win, the annual Little 3 title will be split in a three-way tie between Wesleyan, Williams and Amherst for the first time since 1987-88. However, in the near 100 year history of the Little 3, never has there been a season wherein the road team won all six combined games between the three programs until this season. 
 
In a game that Wesleyan thoroughly dominated, the most-revealing statistic was the rebounding totals. The matchup coming in had Wesleyan as the second-best rebounding team in the NESCAC compared to Williams who was fourth-best but those figure to change after tonight's game wherein Wesleyan grabbed 52 rebounds including 19 offensive boards while Williams finished with just 18 (two offensive). The Cardinals grabbed more offensive rebounds (19) than the Ephs did as a team (18). That +34 rebounding margin helped lead to a 20-0 edge for the Cardinals in second chance points.
 
On the same day he received NESCAC Co-Player of the Week honors, Jordan James '22 had yet another monster night as he finished with 22 points, giving him two straight 20+ point games after not having one all season heading into the weekend. He went 10-of-11 from the floor and grabbed seven rebounds (five offensive), while doing all his damage in just 18 minutes of action.
 
Joining James in double figures was Sam Peek '22 who scored 13 to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals while Nicky Johnson '25 netted 11 and so did Gabe Ravetz '23. Preston Maccoux '23 chipped in nine points while posting game-highs in rebounds (nine) and assists (three). Other steady contributors included Shackylle Dezonie '23 (nine points, four rebounds) and Antone Walker '22 (eight points, five rebounds, two assists).
 
Wesleyan led wire-to-wire in this one and the fireworks started early and often as James hit from inside the paint on the first Cardinal possession and Maccoux drained a trip on the next Wesleyan trip down the floor. Dezonie then got involved with back-to-back makes on consecutive possessions to make it 9-2.
 
Johnson drove the lane for two that gave the Cardinals a double-digit lead just under seven minutes into play and then James and Maccoux converted three straight putback layups on three consecutive possessions as Wesleyan led 23-7 near the midway point of the first half.
 
The Ephs hung around for a few more minutes as it was 28-14 Wesleyan with just under nine minutes left in the first half but the Cardinals then rattled off 15 unanswered points to grab a 43-14 lead which later extended to 50-19 at the halftime break. James got the run started with a layup followed by a dunk and Ravetz capped the 15-0 spurt with a triple and layup off a great feed from Peek.
 
Wesleyan started the second half much like how the first half ended, scoring on four of their first five trips down the floor. With the game in-hand, the Cardinals emptied the bench towards the five-minute mark as Wesleyan led by 40 which later became 45 as the game ended with a 97-52 Wesleyan domination.
 
The Cardinals look to finish out the regular season strong with home games remaining against Colby (Friday 7 PM) and Bowdoin (Sunday 2 PM). A win over either foe would clinch Wesleyan the No. 1 seed and homecourt advantage throughout the NESCAC Tournament.