MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Twelve unanswered points at the end of the first half proved enough to send No. 25 Wesleyan men's basketball past Western New England for a 75-65 win in Silloway Gymnasium on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals head into the holiday break winners of five straight, improving to 8-2 on the season, while the Golden Bears are now 7-3 on the year.
Neither team could gain any separation in the first half, as the opening 20-minute stanza featured eight lead changes and four ties.
Ben Lyttle '27 hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the game while
Zach Wolinski '28 hit from deep over three minutes later to make it 10-7 Wesleyan. Back-and-forth the two sides went, up until the midway point where UNE held a 16-13 lead, only to see the Cardinals use an 8-0 run in the ensuing 5+ minutes.
WNE answered back with a 6-0 run of their own to retake the lead, but the game suddenly took a turn as Wesleyan closed out the first half on a 12-0 run in the final 2:41 minute.
Jaalan Watson '29 opened the run with a three-pointer, followed by a
Sam Pohlman '26 make from long range while Frtiz Hauser '26 made it three straight three-pointers all in less than one minute of play. Lyttle finished off the first half with a layup to make it 34-25 Wesleyan at the break.
The Cardinals continued to find success, opening up their largest lead of the game at that point at 40-27 just over two minutes into the second half. The Golden Bears cut the deficit down to single digits at 46-38 with 12:54 remaining, only to see Wesleyan respond with a 10-0 run that stretched the Cardinal lead to 56-38. Watson, who provided a spark off the bench, started that 10-0 run with a pull up 15-footer before Lyttle hit again from three and Pohlman converted a three-point play.
The Golden Bears didn't go away quietly, going on an 8-0 run to make it an eight-point game with 2:31 remaining, but the free throw shooting from Wesleyan helped ice away the win as the Cardinals went 12-of-12 from the charity stripe in the second half to secure the 75-65 win in the end.
Three Cardinals scored 15+ points, led by Pohlman who finished with 16 points on 6-for-12 shooting with six assists and four rebounds. Wolinski totaled 15 points, as did Lyttle who added eight rebounds and four assists to his stat line. Hauser finished with eight points, five rebounds, three assists, and three blocks while Watson scored nine points in 14 minutes off the bench.
Wesleyan has a 2-week break before getting back in action on Monday, December 29 with a neutral site game against Nichols at the Eastern Connecticut Holiday Invitational.
