CLINTON, N.Y. – Leading by two with under 20 seconds remaining, the Wesleyan men's basketball team needed one more stop to all but secure a victory, however, Teja Singh buried a go-ahead three-pointer with 3.2 seconds left on what was the Continentals' fourth shot attempt of the possession. A last second heave from Preston Maccoux '23 didn't fall and the Cardinals (13-7, 4-2 NESCAC) dropped an 87-86 decision to the hands of Hamilton (14-7, 5-2 NESCAC) on Saturday afternoon from the Scott Field House.
 
A night after seeing Amherst hold off the Cardinals in a game that came down to the final seconds, it was déjà vu for Wesleyan who couldn't saw Hamilton secure three offensive rebounds on their final possession before Singh hit the dagger three-pointer in the closing seconds.
 
Wesleyan built up a six-point lead with under four minutes to play, as Gabe Ravetz '23 hit a turnaround in the paint to make it 82-76 Cardinals, but three-pointers on consecutive Hamilton possessions made it 82-82 with three minutes left.
 
The teams traded points as the game remained tied heading under a minute to play. With the ball in his hands, Nicky Johnson '25 came up big, hitting a step jack 15-foot jumper along the baseline as Wesleyan led 86-84 before the final sequence.
 
With the shot clock now a factor, Hamilton made their move as Singh saw his drive to the rim hit iron but Conner Rood was there to snag the miss. Rood kicked back out for Singh who missed from three, only to see Rood again snag the offensive board. Now Rood's tipped attempt at the basket came up short, but Patrick Mogan cleaned the glass and kicked out to Singh who had an open look from the wing find nothing but net.
 
With all the drama that came with the ending, Wesleyan was in complete control in the early going, building up a double-digit lead less than nine minutes into play. After Hank Morgan hit a layup to make it 14-10 Cardinals, Wesleyan held the Continentals scoreless for the next 6:47 of play, going on a 15-0 run to lead 29-10 with 7:30 left in the half.
 
Hamilton's first half comeback was impressive as the Continentals outscored Wesleyan 28-12 (+16) for the remaining 7+ minutes of play to trail by just three at the half.
 
A high-scoring second half saw the two sides combine for 94 points as Hamilton opened a five-point lead early on but the Cardinals whittled their way back in, as the lead changed hands five times while there was six ties in just the second half alone.
 
Four Cardinals hit double figures in scoring, led by Johnson who went for 17 points (7-12 FG) with three assists. Shackylle Dezonie '23 contributed 16 points (8-14 FG) with six rebounds. Maccoux finished with 14 points while Shane Regan '25 came off the bench to score 11. Steven Johnson '23 had a solid game too off the bench, finishing with eight points and nine rebounds.
 
Hamilton was led by Morgan who netted a game-high 25 points while hitting 4-of-6 from three-point land. As a team, Hamilton went 11-for-23 from distance in the game.
 
Wesleyan's four remaining regular season games are all at home, starting with a big weekend against two nationally-ranked teams in Middlebury (Friday 7 PM) and Williams (Saturday 3 PM).