MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Wesleyan men's basketball team is 13-0 for just the second time in the team's 122-year history, as the Cardinals defeated Little 3 rival Amherst 82-69 on Saturday afternoon from Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals never trailed in this one, leading by as many as 23 points, as Wesleyan joins NYU as the only two teams in the country who remain undefeated in the 2024-25 season.
 
Playing at home for the first time in seven games, the Cardinals never trailed in this one as Wesleyan opened up an 18-4 lead less than eight minutes into play and held a double-digit advantage for almost the entire 32 minutes left in the contest. The only other time in team history when Wesleyan was 13-0 came back in the 1911-12 season when the Cardinals finished undefeated at 13-0.
 
The game was largely decided in the opening eight minutes as Fritz Hauser '26 hit a three-pointer on the first Wesleyan possession, kickstarting a string of three straight offensive possessions ending in points for the Cardinals. After missing their first six shot attempts, Amherst finally hit their first basket 5:05 into play, but the cold spell prolonged as Wesleyan held the Mammoths to a 1-for-10 showing in the early going with four turnovers.
 
The Cardinals took full advantage, leading 18-4 following Hauser's second three-point make of the half. Amherst cut the deficit to 24-17 five minutes later but Wesleyan answered back with a Nicky Johnson '25 floater followed by four made free throws following a shooting foul and technical foul issued to Will Scherer of Amherst.
 
Johnson and Sam Pohlman '26 made three-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 38-20 Wesleyan with 3:19 left in the half. Oscar Edelman '28 later connected from three-point range in the closing seconds of the half to give the Cardinals their largest lead at 45-26, heading into the second half.
 
Jackson Cormier '26 scored four consecutive points to open the second half, including a driving layup that gave the Cardinals what was their largest lead of the game at a 23-point margin.  Wesleyan's lead hovered around 20 points past the midway point of the second half before the Mammoths used a 14-4 run in a span of just over four minutes to make it a 73-61 game with 3:46 remaining.
 
Needing an answer, it was Hauser who came up with a crucial offensive rebound and later connecting from deep with a make that proved enough to push the Cardinals through in the end.
 
Wesleyan was red hot, shooting 58.1 percent (18-31 FG) from the floor in the first half before finishing at 50 percent shooting for the game. The Cardinals went 10-for-30 from three and 12-for-15 at the free throw line while finishing with 20 assists to just nine turnovers.
 
Cormier was at his best, shooting 8-for-11 from the floor and a perfect 7-for-7 on his first seven shot attempts, to finish with a season-high 19 points.
 
Johnson (16 points, six assists), Shane Regan '25 (14 points, nine rebounds, four assists), and Hauser (11 points, six rebounds, four assists) joined Cormier in double figures.
 
Wesleyan goes for team history on Monday night as the Cardinals travel to face Bridgewater State at 7 PM. A win for Wesleyan would clinch the first-ever 14-0 start in team history.