SAINTS FALL TO CARDINALS, 88-61

MIDDLETOWN, Conn. – The Emmanuel College Men's Basketball Team dropped an 88-61 non-conference contest at Wesleyan University on Thursday night. The Cardinals had four players in double-figures with junior Julian Harris recording his first career double-double with 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. With the win, Wesleyan improves to 4-2 on the season, while Emmanuel is still seeking its first win of the 2012-13 season at 0-2.

Wesleyan jumped out in front early and took the lead for good, 6-4, on an inside basket by senior Mike Callaghan (13 points, six rebounds) with 16:12 left in the first half. With the Cardinals holding a slim 14-10 lead at the 10:50 mark, Wesleyan closed out the half on a 27-11 run to assume a commanding 41-21 halftime lead.  Both Harris and senior Derick Beresford had 10 points at intermission.

Opening the second half on a 9-0 run, Wesleyan enjoyed a 23-2 margin over a 5:30 span nearly equally divided between the first and second half as the score stood 27-19 with three minutes remaining in the opening period and was 50-21 with 17:30 showing on the second-half clock.

The lead grew as large as 33 in the second half (68-35 with 11:26 to go) and never fell below 25 the rest of the way. This was the Cardinals' seventh win in eight all-time meetings between these two programs.

Beresford ended the contest with 12 points. Leading Wesleyan was senior Shasha Brown with 18 points.

Emmanuel had the game's high scorer in senior Xavier Everson (Rochester, N.Y.) with 22 points on 10 for 20 shooting. The Saints got nine points from junior guard Josh Welles (Philadelphia, Pa.), who knocked down 4 of 5 from the floor. Junior forward Theo Robinson (Springfield, Mass.) scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds all in the first half. Freshman guard Rashad Dixon (Brockton, Mass.) chipped in with 8 points in the effort for the Saints.

Up next for Wesleyan is a trip to Norwich University in Northfield, Vt. for the opening round of the Hockenbury Classic Sat., Dec. 1. Wesleyan takes on Babson in a first-round matchup. Emmanuel hits the court again Saturday as well, hosting Mount Ida College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference season opener.

*Courtesy of Wesleyan University Sports Information