MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The top-seed and No. 1 nationally ranked Wesleyan men's basketball team is set to play host to the semifinal round and championship game of the 2025 NESCAC Tournament this weekend in Silloway Gymnasium. The Cardinals (25-0) are set to face the four-seed Hamilton at 1:30 pm on Saturday in the semifinals while the other semifinal game between two-seed Trinity and three-seed Tufts will tip at 4:30 pm on Saturday. The two winning teams will then face off in the NESCAC Championship game on Sunday at Noon.
Wesleyan is hosting the NESCAC Championship weekend for the second time in team history and first since 2022. The Cardinals have won the NESCAC Championship twice before, first in 2015 and the team's second title came in that 2021-22 season when Wesleyan last hosted the semifinal round and title game. This is Wesleyan's 17
th all-time appearance in the NESCAC Tournament and seventh time advancing to the semifinal round.
The 2024-25 campaign has been one of the most-incredible seasons put together in school history. This squad became the first NESCAC team to complete an undefeated regular season since the league became a formal playing conference and championships began in the 2000-01 season. Wesleyan achieved its first Top 5 ranking in team history and has been ranked No. 1 over the past four weeks.
This is the team's 10
th consecutive winning season dating back to 2014-15, the second-longest such streak in the team's 122-year history. Wesleyan became the first NESCAC team to go 10-0 in conference play since Amherst back in 2012-13. The Cardinals swept both Amherst and Williams in the regular season to earn the Little Three Championship for the first time since the 2017-18 season while this also marked just the second time since 1947-48 that the Cardinals swept both the Mammoths and Ephs in the regular season.
Wesleyan has won 15 of their 25 games this season away from home, going 13-0 in road games and 2-0 at neutral sites. The Cardinals own an active streak of 11 straight home games with a win dating back to last season while the team is 6-3 all-time in home NESCAC Tournament games.
As a team, Wesleyan ranks fourth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.73) while also sitting second in scoring margin (+18.1), fifth in scoring defense (59.8), 10
th in fewest turnovers per game (9.8), and 11
th in rebound margin (+9.8). The Cardinals have allowed an opponent to score 70+ points just once this season while Wesleyan has scored 70+ in 21-of-25 games.
Shane Regan '25 is the catalyst for the Cardinals on offense, as the 1,000 career point scorer leads the team averaging 18.2 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the floor and 85.5 percent from the line. His points per game average ranks second-best in the NESCAC while he ranks Top 5 in field goal and free throw percentage and Top 10 in assists. He has scored 10+ points in 21-of-24 games played this season while he has reached 20+ points 11 times including in three of the past four games. Regan was just named NESCAC Player of the Week for the third time this season following a playoff career-high 27 points, scoring 17 of Wesleyan's final 21 points in a 65-58 quarterfinal win over Amherst.
Nicky Johnson '25 is the lone other Cardinal averaging double figures as he puts up 12.8 points per game on 47 percent shooting and 35.6 percent from three. Johnson is a two-time All-NESCAC selection and has led the NESCAC in assists in all four of his years as a Cardinal. He is the program's all-time assist lead with 545 in 104 career games played while he currently ranks fifth all-time in career points with 1,320.
The remainder of the starting five features
Jackson Cormier '26 who averages 8.3 points per game while leading the team in field goal percentage (52.7), rebounding (6.5 per game), and blocks (15) this season.
Ben Lyttle '27 is a threat from three, hitting on 35.1 percent of his 77 attempts on the season, while he is averaging 8.2 points and 5.6 rebounds in 25 games played.
Fritz Hauser '26 has started 48-of-50 possible games the past two seasons and he is averaging 6.6 points per game.
Some key pieces off the bench include
Sam Pohlman '26 as the junior point guard averages 6.4 PPG while ranking second on the team with 74 assists this season.
Oscar Edelman '28 is always threat from deep, hitting a team-best 38.6 percent from three-point range, while he recently had a three-game streak with 10+ points to end the regular season.
Josh Cameron '27 is a menace defensively, often taking on the responsibility of guarding the opposing team's top offensive threat, while he has the fourth-most rebounds on the team this season.
Zach Wolinski '28 is another threat from three as the first-year has 30 makes from beyond the arc while hitting on 34.9 percent of his attempts.
Wesleyan got to the semifinal round via a 65-58 quarterfinal home win over Amherst that came down to the wire. The Cardinals led by as many as 14 in the first half before the Mammoths clawed their way back in, ultimately taking a 46-45 lead nearing the midway point of the second half. Regan then took the game over, scoring 12 consecutive Wesleyan points while he netted 17 of his 27 points over the final 10:03 of play. Pohlman converted a three-point play with 1:44 remaining before Regan finished the game with four pressure-packed makes from the free throw line.
Up next for Wesleyan is a showdown against Hamilton in what will be the first all-time meeting between the two sides in the NESCAC Tournament. Wesleyan won the regular season meeting 73-57 in Clinton with Regan going off in the second half, scoring 18 of his game-high 25 points beyond halftime. The Cardinals finished +11 in rebounding in that matchup and held a 44-22 advantage over the Continentals in points in the paint.
Hamilton (20-5, 7-3 NESCAC) features the NESCAC's leading scorer in Hank Morgan who averages 22 points per game, ranking 23
rd nationally, while he averaged 26.3 points per game in 10 NESCAC regular season contests. Morgan shoots 55 percent from the floor and 84.9 percent from the free throw line while he also ranks inside the Top 10 on the NESCAC leaderboard in rebounding (5.9) and steals (1.4). The Continentals started the season 11-1 and are 12-1 in away games in 2024-25. Hamilton won the NESCAC Championship for the first time in team history in the 2022-23 season.
