MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – Life was made very difficult for the Wesleyan men's basketball team on Friday night as the No. 17 ranked Cardinals battled past an upset-minded Lehman squad for a 76-66 win in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Wesleyan (22-6) advances to Saturday night's Second Round tilt against NYU with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
 
Facing the Lightning for the first time, Wesleyan built an early lead as Oscar Edelman '28 hit from three on the first possession while the Cardinals later rode a 10-0 run to open up their largest lead of the game at 18-5. Zach Wolinski '28 hit three free throws while Lyttle made a three on the fast break and Jaalan Watson '29 rose up for a layup in transition.
 
Lehman cut the deficit down to five points, only to see Wesleyan respond with a quick 7-0 run featuring five points from Lyttle as the junior wing was a constant presence the Cardinals relied upon to secure the win in the end.
 
The Cardinals continued to lead by double-digits as the clock wound under three minutes to play in the first half, only to see the Lightning assert themselves in the final minutes before halftime. Manny Barkot hit from deep and then scored seven more points as he scored 10 straight points for the Lightning down the stretch to turn it into a 37-34 game favoring Wesleyan at the break.
 
Both defenses dominated at the start of the second half, with just one made field goal between the two sides for the opening 4+ minutes after halftime. Zay Marte for Lehman hit from three to before Barkor went to work with four more points to give the Lightning their first lead of the contest at 45-43 with 13:08 remaining.
 
Fritz Hauser '26 answered back with a big three but Lehman and Barkor scored five unanswered points to again hold a two-point lead, this time with under 10 minutes remaining.
 
The game then took a sudden shift as Edelman hit from three to give the Cardinals the lead, then on the next trip down the floor, Lyttle connected from deep to force a Lehman timeout.  Those back-to-back threes loomed large as the Cardinals saw Lehman tie the score once more, but the Lightning never retook the lead for the rest of the game, following the Edelman and Lyttle three-point makes.
 
It was 65-63 Wesleyan with under two minutes left when Edelman connected again from deep, and after the Cardinals got a stop on the defensive end, the Lightning fouled Wolinski on a drive to the rim. The sophomore guard buried both free throws and after another stop on defense, the Cardinals had seized control and hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the win.
 
Wesleyan overcame a poor shooting night (33.3 percent overall) and leaned on rebounding as the Cardinals grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and held a +10 edge in rebounding margin (48-38) in the contest.
 
Lyttle starred for the Cardinals, finishing with 20 points (3-7 3FG) and a career-high 17 rebounds (eight offensive) as this marked his fourth double-double in the past five games. Wolinski struggled shooting from the floor but still finished with 17 points as he went 11-for-13 from the line, to go along with five assists.
 
Edelman went 3-for-6 from beyond the arc to score 11 points including three blocks. Hauser finished with nine points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Pohlman tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
 
Awaiting the Cardinals in the Second Round is a showdown against NYU on Saturday at 6:15 PM from Silloway Gymnasium. Tickets are sold (cash or card) in the upper lobby area overlooking Silloway and sales begin at 4:45 PM with doors to Silloway opening at 5:15 PM. The Violets defeated Gettysburg 65-53 in the First Round from Middletown.