MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – It was a total team win on Friday night for the Wesleyan men's basketball team as 14 Cardinals scored a basket in a 87-56 win over Anna Maria in the opening game of the Herb Kenny Tournament. The Cardinals (3-0) advance to Saturday's title game where they will face Albertus Magnus at 3 PM from Silloway Gymnasium.
Wesleyan took a few minutes to get going but still managed to build a 16-5 lead just 6:27 into play.
Shane Regan '25 was heavily involved in the early going, assisting on the first two Wesleyan baskets before either scoring or assisting on the first eight points in what was a 10-0 spurt for the Cardinals in building the 11-point lead.
Anna Maria stabilized and did manage to cut the deficit back down to single digits with 9:19 left in the first half and again with 5:32 left, but the Cardinals held the Amcats scoreless for the remainder of the half, closing out with a 10-run to make it a 40-22 game at the break.
The Cardinals continued to pour it on at the start of the second half, with baskets from Regan,
Ben Lyttle '27 from three, and
Nicky Johnson '25 making it 49-22 in favor of Wesleyan. Two Gabe Armstead free throws halted what was a 19-0 scoring run for Wesleyan dating back to the 5:32 mark of the first half, but the points kept coming from Wesleyan who grew their lead to 54-24 before an Anna Maria three-pointed represented the first made basket for the Amcats in nearly 10 minutes of play.
Armed with a 30-point lead, the Cardinals played all 17 available roster players tonight with points coming from all over the squad.
Alex Justh '26 scored five points while
Jack Williamson '27 and
Dom Obukwelu '28 both hit three-pointers in the closing minutes.
Philip Park '25 drove the lane for a nice finish as the Cardinals led by as many as 36 points before closing out the 31-point victory.
Three Cardinals hit double figures on the night including Regan with 14 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in just 24 minutes. Johnson totaled 14 points (5-8 FG) and four steals while Lyttle had 10 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.
Oscar Edelman '28 had eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.
Wesleyan outscored Anna Maria 36-18 in points in the paint, 13-3 in second chance points, and were +14 in rebounding margin (50-36).
The Cardinals are 20-4 all-time against Albertus Magnus but Saturday's matchup marks the first meeting between the two sides since 2012.
