By Jay Simon; The Whetstone

For senior forward Terrance Braxton, the match against Gwynedd Mercy Jan. 29, meant everything to him.

“This game meant the world to me, just for the fact that they knocked us out of playoffs last year,” he said. “This game was for first place and it was a rivalry game for us.”

The Wesley College Wolverines men’s basketball team bounced back into first place in their conference after their win against their opponent.

The season for the Wolverines started off to a good start.

Their overall record coming into the game was 10-8, while their conference record was 4-1. By the middle of February, they were 14-8 and 8-1 in the conference.

The Wolverines got their only loss in the conference to Cabrini University, 103-99. But by defeating the Griffins 76-73 at home, the Wolverines were in first place.

Men’s basketball coach Dean Burrows said he feels good about their season’s success so far.

“The team’s success is really attributed to our senior leadership” he said. “We had five seniors return from last season and they work very well with the young players. They help them with everything they need and have been great examples for them.”

Another reason that contributes to the team’s success is their non-conference play.

“Our non-conference schedule this season has some difficult games on it,” Burrows said. “We got experience to be ready for when we have conference play.”

Senior forward Derick Charles also hopes that the Wolverines will make it to playoffs and keep the success going.

“Our team is reliant on everyone to do their job when the time comes,” he said. “We’ve done a good job of that so far, but we need to remain consistent.”

Junior Dylan Sicca said the Gwynedd game’s atmosphere was intense and the whole crowd was tuned into the game.

“The crowd would make noise every time the other team was at the free throw line to try to throw them off,” he said. “The game was good because it showed that Wesley can be a competitor to win any conference we’re put into.”

Freshman, Brandin Obidike said he was excited with their success this season.

“I feel like being at the top of the conference and winning conference games shows how much we have improved overall and all the hard work we have put in everyday during practice,” he said. “I hope that we continue to win the rest of our conference games because we need these games to get closer to our goal which is to win the conference championship.”