MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Staring at a nine-point halftime deficit, Zach Wolinski '28 and the No. 17 Wesleyan men's basketball team came storming back to earn an 83-72 win over Bowdoin on Friday night from Silloway Gymnasium. The win keeps Wesleyan (18-5, 8-1 NESCAC) in first place in the NESCAC standings with one regular season game remaining while the Polar Bears (15-8, 5-4 NESCAC) will be on the road for the NESCAC Quarterfinal round next Saturday.
 
On a night where the NESCAC's leading scorer – Ray Cuevas of Bowdoin – had everything working in the first half, the Cardinals never let the game get away from them. Cuevas made all seven of his shot attempts in the first half, including three from three-point range, scoring 17 of his 28 points before halftime. Even with that barrage of difficult makes from Cuevas, the Cardinals kept Bowdoin's lead in the single digits at the break.
 
Trailing 43-34 heading into the second half, an immediate 10-0 scoring run erased the deficit and gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 44-43 with 16:16 remaining. After trading baskets for the next three minutes, the Cardinals went on an extended 11-1 run to take their largest lead of the game at 58-49 with 10:37 left. Wolinski had seven of the Cardinals' 11 points in that run including a corner three in transition following an Ian Plankey '29 block on the defensive end.
 
Cuevas went back to work with three-point makes on back-to-back possessions, forcing Wesleyan into a timeout, then Alex Halpern netted a triple and suddenly it was back to a tied game. An unlikely three-pointer from Josh Cameron '27, just his second make from long range on the season, made it 63-58 Wesleyan. A few minutes later, Wolinski converted a three-point play with 5:05 remaining to again make it a five-point game.
 
As the clock wound under five minutes to play, Oscar Edelman '28 pulled up from just inside the three-point line for a basket and then drove to the hoop for a dunk that had all of Cardinal Nation inside Silloway up on their feet. Then with just over a minute remaining and Wesleyan up by five, Wolinski put the game away with his fourth three-point bucket of the game, as the sophomore not only hit the 30-point mark for the game but also made it 77-69 Cardinals with 1:06 left.
 
Wesleyan went 6-for-6 on free throws down the stretch to seal the win and improve to 10-0 at home this season.
 
Wolinski's career night saw the sophomore go blow-for-blow with Cuevas, finishing the game with a career-high 32 points on 10-for-20 shooting, 4-for-6 from three, and 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. He scored 24 of his 32 points in the second half alone and now has scored double figures in all but one game this season.
 
Lyttle added 15 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes while Sam Pohlman '26 finished with 14 points and seven assists. Wesleyan outscored Bowdoin 44-28 in points in the paint and 17-8 in second chance points. Bowdoin struggled mightily from the foul line, going 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) as a team.
 
Wesleyan finishes the regular season on Saturday at 3 PM with Senior Day against Colby. The Cardinals will honor its five-player senior class prior to the start of play.