Coyotes open second half with a 21-6 run to cruise past Warriors 71-57
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

STERLING -- Kansas Wesleyan opened the second half with a 21-6 run to pull away from the Sterling Warriors, and cruise to a 71-57 win on Saturday night at the Gleason Center.

It was the first trip back to the Gleason Center for first year Wesleyan coach Tommy DeSalme, who spent the last five seasons with the Warriors.

It’s the 11th straight win for the Coyotes, who improve their record to 20-3 overall, and 13-1 in KCAC play. It’s the first time KWU has had a 20-win season since 2001 when the Coyotes finished the year 20-10 after starting 10-0.

Anthony Smith provided the first points, knocking down a three on a pass from Trey Sims, but Sterling quickly answered on its next possession on a bucket by Landon Stover.

The Coyotes held another brief three-point lead with 19:10 left when Sterling put together a 10-2 run, sparked by a Jonathon Lee layup, taking a 12-7 lead with 15:11 left on a basket by Jonathon Woods.

Jeff Baron would hit a three to get the Coyotes back within two, and Smith would knock down another triple to give Wesleyan a 13-12 lead with 13:27 left. Neither team would score again until the 9:08 mark when Shane Stover hit one of two free throws, and Landon Stover hit a three to give the Warriors a 16-13 advantage with 9:03 left.

After trading baskets, Smith would give the Coyotes a 20-19 lead with 6:40 left, and would lead by as many as four with 55 seconds left on a score by Faubion, before Sterling would score the final four points of the half, including a three by Landon Stover with four seconds left, sending the teams to the locker room knotted up at 30-all at the break.

Baron would come out of the locker room firing for the Coyotes, knocking down back-to-back triples, giving the Coyotes a 36-30 less than a minute into the second half, forcing a Sterling timeout. After Dallas Schnurr scored, Smith would get in on the three party, knocking down a trey with 17:57 left giving the Coyotes a seven-point lead at 39-32. Sims would extend the Wesleyan lead to nine with 17:06 left, before Sterling would cut the lead to five on a pair of Mac Stephenson free throws with 16:20 left.

Josh Berry then hit a three to the Coyotes back up eight, made a steal to set up a Sims pass to Baron for another three to give Wesleyan an 11-point advantage with 14:43 left at 47-36. Baron would then come up huge on the defensive end, taking a charge against Landon Stover, setting up a score by Sims to extend the Wesleyan lead to 13, and Berry would make another big play, picking Lucas Ziegler’s pocket and finding Anthony Smith with an amazing behind the back, no look pass to give the Coyotes their biggest lead, 15 points, 51-36 with 13:05 left.

Sterling would answer with a 9-2 run over the next 3:14 to get within eight with 9:51 left, but Faubion would get the Coyotes back on track, hitting one of two free throws, and Baron would get the lead back to double digits with a bucket with 7:54 left.

Sterling would fight to get back to within seven with 3:55 left on free throws by Mac Stephenson, but Baron would answer with a three to hold off the Warriors, putting Wesleyan back up 10 with 3:40 left.

The Coyotes would outscore the Warriors 7-3 the rest of the way, as Wesleyan came away with the 71-57 win.

Baron would lead the way for the Coyotes scoring 21, while Faubion added 19 and pulled down a game high 10 rebounds as Wesleyan shot 44.4 percent from the floor on 24-of-54 shooting. Smith would add seven boards to go along with 15 points. The Coyotes would also force 22 Sterling turnovers and turn them into 23 points.

Landon Stover would share game high scoring honors with Baron with 21 points, while Stephenson added 12 and Schnurr had 11 for the Warriors, who were 18-of-48 from the floor for 37.5 percent. Woods led Sterling (10-14, 6-8) with nine rebounds as Sterling had a 38-35 advantage on the boards.

The Coyotes complete the home portion of the regular season schedule with games against Tabor on Thursday and Bethel on Saturday at Muir Gym, before wrapping up the regular season on the road at McPherson on February 15, and at Saint Mary on February 17.

-- KWU SI --