VANQUISHED

...wow.

Entering tonight, Wes men's basketball had lost 16 in a row to Amherst (dating back to 2000-01) and 34 of its last 36 against the Lord Jeffs. Our new superstud head coach, Joe Reilly, came in 0-14 all-time against the 'Herst.

The Jeffs had made back-to-back appearances in the national title game--winning it all in '06-'07 but losing 90-69 to Washington-St. Louis last season--while Wes had gone 3-24 in NESCAC play over the past three seasons. How did we fare, you ask?

Wesleyan 72, Amherst 69.

Wes shot 51% as a team, including an 8-for-14 performance by hero Jeremy Kaminer '10. No doubt the most important of his 23 points were the last three, as he banked a 30-footer off the glass at the buzzer for the win. (Notably, he also hit a three at the buzzer to send last year's game against Eastern Connecticut into overtime.)

Wes trailed 38-34 at halftime but used a 22-5 run in the second to take a late 65-61 lead. Wes later led 69-64 with 30 seconds left, but Amherst tied it up with 6.7 remaining (helped in large part by a 3-man advantage), setting the stage for Kam's heroics. And for the conspiracy theorists out there, Wes has held its opponents to 69 points in its last two Little Three wins (80-69 at Williams in 2006-07 being the other).

The Lady Cards head up to LeFrak Mausoleum Gymnasium tomorrow for a 7:00 tip. Can they make it back-to-back? Stay tuned.

(Photo courtesy SteveMcLaughlinPhotography.com)

[EDIT] Finally got ahold of a video clip. See it here.

[/edit by Ben, 7:45 PM 1/7]