MIDDLETOWN — Both teams had done far too much for one game to alter either’s March itinerary, but Trinity’s 75-67 victory at Wesleyan on Sunday left a calling card.
“It was a nice win for us over Wesleyan, they’re very, very good,” Trinity coach James Cosgrove said, “and like I told (Wesleyan coach) Joe Reilly, ‘you guys could win the whole thing.’ I believe that, I think they’re that good. So it was a great win for us.”
It was Wesleyan’s first loss of the season after 26 wins and it decided the New England Small School Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament, but it didn’t knock the Cardinals, the No. 1-ranked team in NCAA Division III since early January, off their lofty perch.
Wesleyan was the No. 1 overall seed in the 64-team NCAA Tournament field, and will get to host one of 16 regionals this Friday and Saturday. A roar went up at the team’s watch party at the Freeman Center on Monday when the Cardinals were the first team called on the selection show, to play Delaware Valley in the first round.
“That just speaks to the season we had,” said Wesleyan guard Nicky Johnson. “We really got off to a good start, 26-1, history that we set. A tough loss yesterday, but we knew we’d be in the tournament. It was just good seeing our name up on the screen, it shows all the progress we made this year. We’ve still got more work to do.”
Both teams are well positioned to bring a trophy home to Connecticut. Trinity (24-3), with one loss to Wesleyan, is the No. 4 overall seed, and they will host Neumann on Friday. The Bantams reached the Final Four last year, and returned 10 of their top 12 scorers. They have six wins over teams that made this NCAA Tournament.
“Someone asked me early in the year, ‘Are you as good as last year?” said Cosgrove, in his 15th season. “I said, ‘that’s a tall order, to be as good as last year, but I think we might be better defensively and that goes a long way, especially at playoff time. We’re a team where, when we’re playing well, we can beat anybody, but as I told our guys, if we don’t play well, we could lose to anybody. Right now, everybody you play is good.”
Both these schools are used to that. The NESCAC got four teams in the tournament. Trinity copped the automatic bid Sunday, with Wesleyan Tufts and Hamilton getting three of the 21 at-large bids available, with Tufts also hosting a regional.
“Last year, we only had three teams in and all three went to the Sweet 16,” Cosgrove said. “Our conference is the best in the country. Sometimes, teams are 6-4, 5-5 in the conference and they’re a hell of a team and they don’t get an at-large bid. Everybody’s good, anybody can beat anybody any given night and that really helps you come this time of year.”
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Wesleyan rose to the top of the conference, the top of D-III, with an experienced roster and strong relationships built over several seasons in the program together.
“It all starts with upper-class leadership,” said Reilly, who got his 300th career win earlier in the season. “We have five great seniors, a lot of experience and a lot of wisdom. They do a great job teaching the younger guys what’s expected of them in the program. They’re great culture carriers.”
Shane Regan, the top scorer, averaged 18.7 points per game. Johnson, one of the top facilitators in program history, averaged 13 points and 4.5 assists. Wesleyan has five wins over teams in the field of 64.
“We preach that there are a lot of ways to impact winning,” Reilly said, “and just one guy not being on board can be a huge distraction and can really impact what level of success you can achieve. We just have A-plus, high character people that are bought in. In today’s culture, to have young guys able to celebrate other guys’ success and just put winning first, it’s a really special group.”
Wesleyan is going to the tournament for the fifth time in Reilly’s 17 seasons. Reilly, who played at South Catholic High in Hartford and at Trinity, is one of three ex-Bantams coaching in the tournament, along with Clark University’s Tyler Simms and Western New England’s Colin Tabb. Clark and WNEC are both in Trinity’s bracket.
This year’s Bantams lost two top players, Dana Smith and Ben Callahan-Gold, but Henry Vetter, who averaged 15.3 points, starred in the conference championship game, scoring 16 on 5 for 10 shooting from the floor.
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