Men's Basketball Falls In Wesleyan Tip-Off Tournament Final, 61-60

Middletown, CT --- Sophomore Joseph Kuo (New York, NY/Governor Academy) and junior Rachid Epps (Harlem, NY) both finished with double-doubles as they helped pace host Wesleyan to a 61-60 triumph over Worcester State in the Herb Kenny Tip-Off Tournament  this afternoon.

In the first-ever meeting between the two teams, Wesleyan improved to 2-0 in the win while the Lancers moved to 1-1 in the loss.

Kuo went 10-for-20 from the field to finish with a game-best 24 points and he added 13 rebounds. Epps grabbed 17 boards and he chipped in with 10 points while junior BJ Davis (Hamden, CT) also poured in 12 points for the Cardinals.

Senior Brendan Rios (Easthampton, MA) led the charge for the Blue and Gold as he netted 21 points with eight rebounds and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Sophomore Jeremy Bacon (Milford, MA) collected a double-double of his own with 11 points and 11 caroms as senior Charles Gunter (Boston, MA/New Misson) came off the bench to collect 10 points and four rebounds.

WSU's other representative on the All-Tournament team, sophomore Paul Brooks (Arlington, MA) had eight boards and a trio of rejections.

In the opening half, there were just two lead changes and a duo of ties as the hosts led by no more than five with 2:22 left in the first period on the back of a lay-up by Davis (17-12).

The Lancers made a charge to finish off the half by doubling up their opponents 6-3, with the offense coming at the charity stripe to help Worcester State trail 20-18 at the intermission.

On the seventh tie of regulation at the 13:33 mark and the score 30-30 on a field goal in the paint by Rios, the Cardinals gave themselves some breathing room going on a 9-2 run and opened up a 39-32 margin just 2½ minutes later.

Both squads traded baskets over the next six minutes as WSU never got as close as four points until Rios drained a triple to pull within 54-51 at the 4:04 mark.

Wesleyan, however, connected on three straight field goals by Davis, junior Joe Edmonds (Oklahoma City, OK) and Kuo in a 6-3 surge to make it a seven point game with 2:28 remaining on the clock (60-53).

The Cardinals offense then went cold as the hosts missed their next four attempts from the field over the next 90 seconds. The Lancers utilized the drought and responded with a jumper by Brooks and a tip-in lay-up by Bacon to trail by three with 1:16 left in the game.

After a missed three pointer by Rios, Davis was sent to the line and he made the front end of a one-and-one to make it a 61-57 contest. The single basket proved to be critical as junior Jack Mackey (Warwick, NY) was off target at the charity stripe and junior Manny Cabral (Roslindale, MA) sank a trifecta just before the buzzer for the final score.

It was a tale of two halves for both squads. After combining to shoot an abysmal 19 percent in the opening frame, Worcester State went 39 percent in the second period (13-for-33) and Wesleyan connected on half of their attempts (17-for-34).

While the Lancers only hit six of their 23 bids from beyond the arc in a one-point contest, the visitors missed just three of their 23 tries from the free throw line (87 percent) and led in total rebounds (43-40).

Wesleyan led in second chance points (21-15) and points in the paint (28-14), but only canned two of their 11 attempts from downtown and went 11-for-17 from the stripe (65 percent).

The two teams will play home games in the next week. Worcester State takes on Salve Regina on Saturday at Assumption in a 1 PM contest while the Cardinals entertain Emmanuel on Thursday at 7 PM.