MIDDLETOWN, Conn. - The Wesleyan University men's basketball team won its first NESCAC Tournament game since 2003 in a 78-59 win over Bowdoin in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on Saturday afternoon.

With the win, the third-seeded Cardinals (20-5) advance to the tournament semifinals and will play second-seeded Middlebury in a game at top-seeded Amherst on February 25. The sixth-seeded Polar Bears see their season come to a close with a record of 17-8.

Bowdoin seniors Will Hanley and Ryan O'Connell went down swinging as both finished with 22 points in the setback. Hanley grabbed 11 rebounds and dished out three assists to go with his 22-point effort, finished his career with 1,490 points (sixth all-time at Bowdoin) and 883 rebounds (second all-time). O'Connell hit five three-pointers to finish with 200 in his career,becoming just the third Polar Bear to reach the plateau.

The Cardinals used a 14-2 run near the end of the first half to take command, turning a tight 22-20 Wesleyan edge into a 36-22 margin with 38 seconds left in the period. Halftime resulted in a 36-24 Wesleyan lead.  Shasha Brown, who netted a team-high 21 points, scored 10 of the Cardinals' 14 points during the decisive run.  When Wesleyan netted the opening five points of the second half, the margin ballooned to 17, 41-24, and never fell below 13 for the remaining 19 minutes of play. 

Bowdoin held a 42-35 edge in rebounding, but hit just 37.7% of their shots in the loss. The Cardinals committed just five turnovers in the game.