MEDFORD, Mass. – Trailing by eight at the half, the Wesleyan men's basketball team stormed back and led with under a minute left in regulation, but missed free throws proved costly as the Jumbos prevailed in overtime, 82-70, on Friday night from Cousens Gymnasium. Wesleyan (12-11, 3-6 NESCAC) is still in search of their first NESCAC road win this season while the Jumbos (18-5, 5-4 NESCAC) have clinched a playoff spot with the win.
Trailing 34-26 at halftime, the Cardinals went on a 16-5 run in the opening 6:25 of the second half, taking a 42-39 lead on a
Sam Pohlman '26 floater. After the Jumbos regained a four-point lead a few minutes later, there was little separating these two sides as neither team led by more than three points over the final 11:23 of regulation.
Nicky Johnson '25 and
Shane Regan '25 were incredible through, but especially in the second half as Regan scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half alone while Johnson scored 10 points and dished out five assists.
As the game came down to the final minutes, Regan hit his fourth three-pointer of the half to put the Cardinals ahead 60-58 and Johnson later answered a go-ahead three from Jon Medley with one of his own, putting Wesleyan out in front 67-65 with 41 seconds left.
After forcing a miss, Regan grabbed the rebound and was fouled, but missed the front end of a one-and-one. Tufts again came up empty, this time on a three-point miss from Jay Dieterle, and Johnson cleaned up the rebound and was fouled. With another chance to make it a four-point game, Johnson missed on his first attempt and on this trip down the floor, Dieterle found Josh Bernstein open underneath for the game-tying layup with 0.9 seconds on the clock.
In the extra session, Tufts put the pressure on early, scoring on their first three trips down the floor, building a 74-69 lead. Wesleyan came up empty on consecutive possessions and after Khai Champion hit a jumper with two minutes left, it was Tufts who came out with the 82-70 victory, outscoring the Cardinals 15-3 in the OT period.
Regan played all 45 minutes of this contest, finishing 9-of-20 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three on his way to 25 points with five rebounds. Johnson tallied 15 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in 42 minutes.
Fritz Hauser '26 netted 10 points as six Cardinals played at least 28 minutes in the OT battle.
Scott Gyimesi led the Jumbos with 17 points (8-14 FG) and 14 rebounds while Bernstein finished with 15 points and six rebounds and Dieterle had 10 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists.
Wesleyan closes out the regular season on Saturday with a trip to Bates scheduled to tip at 2 PM.
