CEDARVILLE, OH. – The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team restarted the Great Midwest portion of the season on Saturday afternoon on the road. The Panthers, like all Division II programs, have been idle over the holiday break. Coming off a four-game winning streak to end 2025, Wesleyan suffered an 84-54 defeat to the Yellow Jackets. 
 
The Panthers have won the previous four games against the Yellow Jackets in the all-time series by an average margin of 25 points. The 2026 matchup was not as kind for the Panthers as Cedarville caught fire early and never looked back. 
 
The Yellow Jackets connected on nearly 60% of their shots from the field on the day. Early on, the steady play of Fatih Huyuk under the basket kept this anticipated match-up close. Huyuk's counterpart Sam Johnson was equally as good in the post for the Yellow Jackets as he would answer Huyuk's post points with his own while finishing the game with 27 points. 
 
Jorge Sanchez-Ramos sent the Panthers into the first media timeout tied at 14 after he knocked-down a three-point basket. Out of the break, Cedarville went on a 19-4 run which included 11 straight points to ignite the rally. Head Coach Drew Cooper had to go deep into his bench as Huyuk, LaVonte Harris, Chinedu Nwankwo, and Armandas Plintauskas all found themselves in foul trouble throughout the first half. 
 
The Yellow Jackets took advantage of the Panthers attrition and went into halftime with a 44-26 lead. The Cedarville lead continued to grow in the second half as the Panthers finished the game shooting 32% from the field. Huyuk finished with 15 points and four rebounds while Harris added 12 points and seven rebounds. 
 
This was just the first leg of four games in eight days for the Panthers as they will travel to Painesville, Ohio, on Monday for a match-up against Lake Erie College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3PM CT. The game will also be broadcasted on FloCollege. 
 
Visit kwcpanthers.com/give today to make a gift to Kentucky Wesleyan Athletics! Gifts can be directed to general athletics, our athletic endowment, or any of our 14 NCAA Division II programs.

Stay up to date on all your Panther news by following @KWCPanthers on X and Instagram and by liking the "Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics" Facebook page. Also, the Panthers Mobile App is available on iTunes and Android featuring real-time news alerts, schedules, exclusive multimedia content, gameday details and more.