MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The top-seed Wesleyan men's basketball team fell to the three-seed Trinity by a score of 80-55 on Sunday afternoon in the 2026 NESCAC Championship game held in Silloway Gymnasium. The Bantams (25-2) become just the second program in NESCAC history to win three straight league titles while the Cardinals (21-6) are runners-up for the second straight season.
Wesleyan was the better side in the early going, scoring on their first three possessions to jump out to a 7-2 lead.
Ben Lyttle '27 then went on a personal 8-0 run, hitting a three-pointer on the fast break and converting a three-point play underneath to hand the Cardinals a 17-6 lead just over seven minutes into play.
Trinity then held the Cardinals to just two points over the ensuing six minutes, but could only manage to cut the deficit down to three, as Wesleyan found some success with
Zach Wolinski '28 going to the line after being fouled beyond the three-point line. Then the sophomore guard hit from deep before
Oscar Edelman '28 converted a floater in the paint to make it 27-18 Wesleyan with 5:32 left in the first half.
As the first half came to a close, the Bantams got a couple baskets from Jared Berry before Tristan Davis converted a pair of easy looks underneath as it was just a one-point game with Wesleyan leading 31-30 at halftime.
That late momentum from the first half for Trinity carried over in the second half as Jarrel Okorougo converted a put back on the first possession which started a string of three straight trips down the floor ending in points for the Bantams.
Trinity led by six before
Fritz Hauser '26 hit from three to cut the deficit down to three, but that was as close as Wesleyan could get for the remainder of play. The Bantams slowly started to pull away until it was 53-43 Bantams when a decisive 13-2 run put the lead far out of reach as Trinity ran away with the win.
After holding Trinity in-check in the first half, including a 1-for-10 showing from three in the opening 20 minutes, Wesleyan saw the Bantams shoot 7-for-11 from three in the second half while going to the foul line 17 times (making 13) as the visitors outscored the Cardinals 50-24 after halftime.
Wolinski led the Cardinals with a game-high 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting while Lyttle and Hauser each finished with 10 points.
Wesleyan is locked in as the #8 overall seed, according to the NCAA Power Index, and will learn of their NCAA Tournament selection on Monday at 1 PM.
