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Date: January 24, 2003
Contact: Bill Sodoma

 

Wesleyan men's basketball tops Mules

WATERVILLE, Maine --

On a night when he scored his 1,000th career point, Wesleyan University junior forward Kanem Johnson (Hillhouse/New Haven, Conn.) also hit an inside shot with just 2.7 seconds remaining to give the Cardinals a 61-59 victory over Colby College in New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) play Friday night at Wadsworth Gymnasium.

Colby (4-10, 0-3 NESCAC) trailed by 12 points at one point, but came storming back to take a 59-57 lead. The Cardinals, though, scored the final four points of the game. Wesleyan got the ball back with 19 seconds left and worked into Johnson, who leaned past his man and hit the layup. The Mules missed badly on a desperation shot at the buzzer.

Johnson finished with 25 points and nine rebounds for the winners. He is the 13th male player to score 1,000 career points and is just the third Cardinal to do it as a junior. In fact, Johnson scored 1,000 points quicker than any other Wesleyan player. Cardinal all-time scoring leader Leo Jones '02 hit 1,000 points in his 67th game, while Johnson needed 66 games.

Johnson got the 1,000th point with 7:06 remaining in the first half when he pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on a layup. He started the game 7-for-7 from the field (he was 8-for-10 at the half) in helping Wesleyan to a 32-24 halftime lead.

Colby senior forward Kevin Crosman (Morse/Bath, Maine) had 20 points and 15 rebounds. He had 14 points and 11 rebounds in the second half to lead the Mules' comeback. Michael Westbrooks (Berkshire School/Dublin, Ireland) added 10 points and seven rebounds, while Patrick McGowan (North Attleboro/North Attleboro, Mass.) had 11 points for Colby.

David Myrie (All Hallows/Queens, N.Y.) had 14 points and 11 rebounds for Wesleyan, while Tim Holland (Wheatley School/East Williston, N.Y.) had eight points and eight boards.

Colby will play host to Connecticut College at 2 p.m. Saturday.