MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Playing in front of a raucous crowd of 2,000+, the Wesleyan men's basketball team exacted some revenge on longtime rival Trinity, with the Cardinals defeating the Bantams 64-62 on Saturday afternoon. Wesleyan (15-4, 5-0 NESCAC) snaps the defending national champions' 32-game win streak while remaining unbeaten at home this season.
Trinity was a thorn in Wesleyan's side last season, as the Bantams snapped Wesleyan's 26-0 start to the season with a 75-67 win in the NESCAC Championship game held in Middletown. Then in the NCAA Final Four in Fort Wayne, Trinity ended the Cardinals' season, triumphing in a 73-69 win that catapulted the Bantams to their first-ever NCAA National Championship.
Meeting for the first time since that Final Four showdown, revenge was certainly on the mind of the Cardinals who came out on fire thanks to an incredible opening 12-minute stretch from
Sam Pohlman '26. The senior guard drove the lane for a layup on Cardinals' first trip down the floor, then connected on his first of three first half three-pointers just a few minutes later. The Pohlman onslaught continued with two more drives to the rim followed by a deep triple and then a stepback trey right in front of the Cardinal student section to make it 21-14 Wesleyan.
After a 2+ minute breather, Pohlman subbed back in and picked up right where he left off, pulling up from three in transition to give Wesleyan their largest lead of the game at 26-14. That capped a stretch of six straight Pohlman makes to start the game as the senior scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half.
Trinity worked their way back into the game across the final eight minutes of the first half, getting a three-point play from Tristan Davis while Henry Vetter drove the length of the court for a layup that made it 26-21 Cardinals.
Three-pointers from
Fritz Hauser '26 and
Oscar Edelman '28 kept the Cardinals out in front while
Jaalan Watson '29 pulled up in the mid-range with seven seconds left to hand Wesleyan a 38-31 halftime lead.
Just as Pohlman dominated the first half, Watson played the role of hero in the second half as the freshman carried the Wesleyan offense for a long stretch in the middle stages. Prior to checking in with 14:08 left in the half, the Cardinals hadn't scored in over four minutes, but his arrival turned the tide immediately with a three-pointer on the wing to make it 47-43 Wesleyan.
Watson attacked the mid-range with back-to-back 15-foot pull-up jumpers as the Cardinals and Bantams continued to trade baskets. Two more Watson makes, the second of which coming on a drive to the rim, saw the freshman cap a stretch where the freshman went 5-of-6 from the floor.
Trinity made their move past the midway point of the second half, using a 7-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 59-56 Bantam lead with 7:05 remaining. Both defenses dominated from there, as neither team made a field goal for the next three minutes, before
Ben Lyttle '27 grabbed an offensive rebound and alertly passed underneath to Hauser for a game-tying layup with 4:06 left.
On the ensuing possession, the ball swung to
Zach Wolinski '28 on the wing and the sophomore rose up for a go-ahead three-pointer. As the clock wound under two minutes, Wolinski was fouled and sent to the line for a 1-and-1 with Wesleyan up by two. With all the pressure on him, Wolinski calmly hit nothing but net on both attempts to make it 64-60 Wesleyan with 1:33 left.
Henry Vetter responded with a pair of free throws, lowering the deficit back down to two with under a minute to play. Wesleyan came up empty on offense, but Vetter missed a go-ahead three-point attempt on the next Trinity trip down the floor. With a 10-second difference between the shot clock and game clock, Trinity chose to play defense instead of foul and forced a shot clock violation, getting the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead with 9.4 seconds remaining.
Drew Lazarre dribbled down the floor and drove past the three-point line before pulling up and handing off to Jared Berry who rose up for a three-point look that hit the back rim.
Josh Cameron '27 secured the rebound and sent all of Cardinal Nation into hysterics as the buzzer sounded on a dramatic 64-62 win.
Three Cardinals combined for 52 of the team's 64 points as Pohlman finished with 22 points to lead all scorers while Watson had 16 points in just 14 minutes off the bench and Wolinski totaled 14 points. Wesleyan finished +13 in rebounding (44-31) and went 9-for-11 from the charity stripe.
Wesleyan's defense in this one cannot be understated as the Cardinals held Trinity without a made basket for the final 7:05 minutes of the game. The 62 points are easily a season-low for the Bantams who had scored at least 73 points in all 17 games prior to today's defeat.
The monumental win sends the Cardinals into another huge showdown next weekend as Wesleyan heads to Tufts in a battle of for first place in the NESCAC standings as both teams are 5-0 in league play.
