The Husson University Eagles men’s basketball team, winners of the North Atlantic Conference Championship last weekend, are headed for Middletown, Connecticut to face the champs from the New England Small College Athletic Conference the Wesleyan University Cardinals on Friday night in a first round Division III NCAA Tournament game.
Husson (15-9), rallied from an 11 point first half deficit against SUNY-Poly on Saturday afternoon in Bangor to claim their first postseason conference title since the 2018-19 season with a 57-53 victory. Wesleyan (24-3) is certainly a formidable opponent and has won eight games in a row entering play on Friday night. The Cardinals have wins over Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), all whom beat the Eagles in the regular season.
The Eagles are led by senior guard DJ Bussey who averages 16.8 points per game and shoots nearly 41% from the three-point arc (40.7%). Senior guard Justice Kendall averages 15.1 ppg, while Justin Thompson the former Schenck Wolverine and grad student, puts in 13.3 points per contest and averages 8.5 rebounds. The Cardinals have five players that average double digits including Sam Peek (18.0), James Jordan (11.6), Gabe Revetz (10.9), Nicky Johnson (10.5), and Preston Maccoux (10.3). Peek and Jordan also average just over 6.5 rebounds per game, and Maccoux averages 6.0 boards.
Husson last played an NCAA Tournament game back on March 1, 2019 when they fell 86-60 to Williams College. The Eagles have never won a game in the tournament in their history. Start time Friday night is 7:40 p.m. on the homecourt of the Cardinals, who are 12-2 in their own gym this season while Husson is 5-6 on the road.
