Men's Basketball Drops 95-91 Decision to Wesleyan

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The visiting Wesleyan University men's basketball team posted a 95-91 victory over Bridgewater State University on Saturday afternoon at the Tinsley Center.

The Cardinals improve to 3-5 on the year, while the Bears suffered their first setback of the season to slip to 9-1. The two teams were meeting for the first time since 2014. The game also marked Wesleyan's first visit to Bridgewater since 1995. The Cardinals hold a slight edge in the all-time series, 3-2.

Senior guard Preston Maccoux (Bid Bend, Wisc.) paced the visitors with a game-high 25 points as well as eight rebounds, two assists and three steals. Maccoux went 8-for-17 from the floor, 3-for-8 from three-point range and 6-for-6 at the free throw line. Senior guard Shackylle Dexonie (Tobyhanna, Pa.) added 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting to go along with nine boards, while senior guard Gabe Ravetz (New York, N.Y.) checked in with 15 points and six rebounds, The Cardinals also received 13 points, three rebounds and nine assists from sophomore guard Nicky Johnson (Lexington, Mass.) who played 31 minutes and made some key shots down the stretch despite picking up his fourth foul very early in the second half.

Senior guard Precious Okoh (Brockton, Mass.) and freshman guard Dante Kikuba (Framingham, Mass.) each recorded a double-double to lead the way for Bridgewater State. Okoh scored 23 points and pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds to go along with six assists. He was 9-for-16 from the floor and 4-for-7 from behind the arc. Kikuba tallied 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting, 12 assists, four rebounds and two steals. The 12 assists equaled his season high and the double-double marked Kikuba's second of the season.

The Bears also received 17 points, six rebounds, three assists, four steals and a pair of blocked shots from graduate center Emerson Halbleib (Carmel, Ind.) who was 7-for-9 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 at the stripe. Junior forward Peyton Priest (Papillion, Neb.) added a season-high 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting from long distance. Priest also contributed five rebounds and a pair of assists.

The Bears got off to a great start thanks to some strong three-point shooting and led 25-12 with 11 minutes remaining in the first half and 38-28 with 3:20 showing on the scoreboard. The Cardinals however closed out the stanza with a 14-3 run to take a 42-41 lead into the break. Sophomore guard Cole Bryant (Bethel, Conn.) jumpstarted the run with back-to-back trifectas.

Kikuba led all players with 11 first-half points. Dezonie paced Wesleyan with ten, while Bryant and sophomore forward Jared Langs (Fairview, Texas) chipped in with eight and nine points, respectively, off the bench. The Bears shot 50% (17-34) from the floor and 40% (6-15) over the first 20 minutes but turned the ball over ten times and went 1-for-4 at the free throw line. The Cardinals connected on 43.2% (16-37) of their first half field goal attempts and went a perfect 6-for-6 at the stripe but just 4-for-16 (25%) from behind the arc.

Bridgewater opened the second half with a 13-4 run to jump back on top, 54-46. Priest knocked down a pair of three-pointer during the spurt, while Okoh capped it off with a trifecta.

Trailing 66-60 with 12 minutes remaining, the Cardinals outscored the Bears 18-6 over the next 5 ½ minutes, including a key four-point play by Ravetz, to reclaim the lead for good. Seven different players scored for Wesleyan during the game-changing stretch with Ravetz tallying seven points and Maccoux five.

Down 78-72 with 6:30 left to play, the Bears battled back as the BSU defense limited the Cardinals to just five points over the net four minutes. A 10-5 run jumpstarted by back-to-back layups by senior center Stanley Pierre-Louis (Roxbury, Mass.) and capped of a Kikuba driving layup made it a one-point game (83-82) with 2:34 showing on the scoreboard. Out of a timeout, Maccoux dropped in a layup and then capitalized on a BSU turners with a clutch three-pointer to quickly extend the Wesleyan lead to 88-82 with two minutes left to play.

A pair of layups from Halbleib and Okok followed by a big defensive stop made it a two-point game (88-86) and put the Bears in position to either tie the game or take the lead, but a key turnover with 48 seconds remaining thwarted the comeback bid. The Cardinals went 7-for-8 from charity stripe over the final 40 seconds to secure the 95-91 victory.

Wesleyan went 18-for-20 from the free throw line for the game and held a 42-38 rebounding advantage with a 15-10 edge on the offensive glass. The Cardinals also forced 16 turnovers and finished with a 22-12 advantage in points off turnovers.

The Bears shot 52.2% (36-69) for the game and 37.5% (12-32) from three-point range but made just 7 of 12 free throw attempts (58.3%).

Both teams are off until the end of the month. The Bear take on host Guilford College on Thursday, December 29th (3:00 PM) and Greensboro College on Friday December 30th (3:00 PM) at the Guilford Holiday Classic. The Cardinals travel to Springfield College on December 30th (3:00 PM) to take on Maine-Farmington at the Springfield Classic.