SALEM – Joseph Kuo (New York, NY) and BJ Davis (Hamden, CT) both scored 17 points apiece as the Cardinals of Wesleyan University cruised past the Vikings of Salem State 91-60 on the final day of the 2015 Salem State Holiday Classic. Nathan Krill (Saint Helena, CA) earned team MVP honors along with Salem State forward Marcus Faison (Cambridge, MA). The victory gives the Cardinals a 10-game win streak as they improve to 10-1 on the season while Salem State falls to 6-6.
The fast paced offense of Wesleyan wasted no time pulling out to an early lead as they took a 15-5 advantage led by BJ Davis (Hamden, CT), who had five points during that stretch. Moments later, Kuo took over for the Cardinals, leading them on a 13-0 run that opened up a 33-9 advantage. The Vikings answered with a 7-0 run that brought the score to 35-17, but that would be short lived as Wesleyan regained a lead of 28 points with the help of their three point shooting (6-11) 54.6% in the half. Wesleyan dominated Salem State down low as they posted 24 points in the paint compared to eight for the Vikings. The Cardinals exceled on defense as well as they forced 10 turnovers in the half which were converted into 15 points. Davis led the way with 12 points as Wesleyan took a 52-26 lead into halftime.
After dominating in the first half, the Cardinals set themselves up for an easy second half as they maintained a lead of 20 or more throughout the remainder of the game. Krill put Wesleyan up by the largest margin at the 14:00 mark with a mid-range jumper for a 34-point lead. Salem State shot just (4-22) 18.2% from beyond the arc, including a Dennis Bailer (Lynn, MA) trey that cut the deficit to 28 points at the 12:00 mark. However, the task was too great for Salem State as they could not chip away at the large lead the Cardinals built in the first half and went on to lose 91-60.
Krill finished with 13 points and nine rebounds while Faison led the Vikings with nine points and eight boards.
Salem State will host the Corsairs of UMass Dartmouth on January 2nd for a start time of 2:00 p.m. The Cardinals are due to face the Anchormen of Rhode Island College at 7:00 p.m. on January 5th.
Information Supplied by Salem State Sports Information Office
