LEWISTON, Me. – Less than 24 hours removed from Friday night's OT loss at Tufts, the Wesleyan men's basketball team rebounded in a big way, defeating Bates, 79-54, at Alumni Gym on Saturday afternoon to clinch a spot in the 2024 NESCAC Tournament. Wesleyan (13-11, 4-6 NESCAC) is locked into the #7 seed and will face either Trinity or Conn. College on the road in the quarterfinal round next Saturday, depending on Sunday's result between the Camels and Ephs. Bates finishes the 2023-24 season with a record of 3-21 (0-10 NESCAC).
 
Wesleyan put together a well-rounded performance in the final game of the regular season, holding Bates to just 29.7 percent shooting (19-64 FG) and 19.4 percent from three (6-31 3FG) as the 54 points allowed is the fewest the Cardinals have held a NESCAC opponent to since a 57-54 win over Amherst on January 2, 2023.
 
On the opposite end of the court, the Cardinals featured a balanced attack on offense with six players scoring at least six points in the 25-point win. Shane Regan '25 led the way with 21 points, finishing the regular season as the NESCAC's leading scorer at 19.3 points per game, recording 20+ points in 5-of-10 NESCAC contests.
 
Fritz Hauser '26 finished with 16 points (6-14 FG), giving him 10+ points in five straight games, while the 16-point total is the second-highest scoring total of his career. Nicky Johnson '25 stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, five rebounds, seven assists, and two steals as he moves to just 16 points away from reaching 1,000 for his career.
 
Other key contributions came from Sam Pohlman '26 (eight points, four steals), Jackson Cormier '26 (six points, seven rebounds), and Josh Cameron '27 (eight points, nine rebounds) in the win.
 
The Cardinals came out swinging with Hauser canning a three-pointer and then finishing off a dunk in transition off a feed from Johnson. Wesleyan took a 15-7 lead just 7:55 into play and led by double digits for the first time at 21-11 midway through the first half. Johnson hit a three-pointer to give Wesleyan their largest lead of the half at 35-21 and the Cardinals took a 43-32 lead into halftime.
 
Wesleyan put the clamps on Bates in the second half, holding the Bobcats to just 22 points. After Bates cut the deficit to 49-39, the Cardinals rattled off a 10-0 run to lead 59-39 with 13:41 remaining. Regan hit a three-pointer with 5:38 left, putting him over the 20-point mark, and giving Wesleyan their largest lead of the game at 27 points, before the game ended in a 79-54 Cardinal win.
 
The 2022 NESCAC Champion Wesleyan heads back to the postseason for the 16^th time in team history. News of the Cardinals' quarterfinal round opponent will come following the conclusion of Sunday's game between Conn. College and Williams, which is tipping at 1 PM in Williamstown.