Coyotes capture KCAC Tournament Championship with 56-55 thriller
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

The fans storm the court following the Coyotes' 56-55 thriller win over Friends in Monday's KCAC Tournament Championship

Kansas Wesleyan completed its sweep of the KCAC titles in thrilling action as the Coyotes defeated Friends 56-55 on Monday night at Muir Gym. The win gives Kansas Wesleyan its first ever KCAC Post-Season Tournament Championship, and the no.1 automatic berth from the KCAC into the NAIA Division II National Tournament which starts March 7 in Branson, Mo.

Trey Sims was the hero for the Coyotes. After taking a timeout with 17.1 seconds left, trailing 55-54, Wesleyan played for a final shot. Sims’ pass to Jeff Baron was deflected into the backcourt by Greg Carrell, where Sims recovered the play with seven seconds left. Sims found a wide open Marcus Faubion, who missed a short jumper in the lane that was rebounded by Anthony Smith. Smith’s shot was blocked off the backboard by Justin Rone and careened to Sims who released with .8 seconds left and his shot was true as time expired giving the Coyotes the 56-55 win.

Trent Barney opened up the scoring for Friends with a bucket at the 18:52 mark. Sims tied things up on Wesleyan’s next possession, and Faubion made a steal and layup to give the Coyotes their first least with 18:29 left in the first half.

Josh Urban would hit a three to give the Falcons a 5-4 lead with 18:07 left, but Tony Boone would spark a 10-0 Wesleyan run capped by a Faubion triple with 14:10 left to give the Coyotes a 14-5 lead.

Justin Speer would hit a three to break the Coyote run, and Matt Garvey would get the Falcons within four at 14-10 with 12:11 left in the first half. The Coyotes would rally again, using a 9-2 run to take an 11-point lead with 6:21 left. The Falcons would get within seven on a three-point play by Garvey with 3:58 left before the Coyotes would take their biggest lead of the night 32-20 on a Baron three with 55 seconds left before the half. After an Urban three, Boone would hit a shot just before the half to send the Coyotes to the intermission with a 34-23 lead.

Carrell would hit a three to open the second half  to get the Falcons within eight at 34-26. A pair of Baron free throws would give Wesleyan a 10-point lead with 19:26 to go when Friends began to fight its way back into the game. Carrell would score and convert a three-point play to get things started as the Falcons used a 9-2 run to get within three at 38-35 with 15:43 left.

Stacy Bias would give Friends its first lead since early in the first half on a bucket off a Carrell assist with 12:27 left. Baron would give the lead back to the Coyotes with a pair of free throws as the teams traded the lead until the 6:49 mark when Carrell would give Friends a 49-47 lead with 6:49 to go.

The Falcons would go up by as many as three, the last time at the 3:49 mark before the Coyotes made their final run. Smith converted a Boone miss to get the Coyotes within one with 3:28 left, and would give the Coyotes the lead with 2:41 left on a bucket on a pass from Boone.

Matt Garvey would score on Friends’ next possession, giving the Falcons the lead back with 2:18 left at 55-54. Neither team could convert until the final play when Sims gave the Coyotes the 56-55 win in dramatic fashion.

Faubion, who was named the KCAC Player of the Year after the game, led all scorers with 19 points, but only scored three in the second half. Smith added 11 as the only two Coyotes in double figures. Wesleyan shot 45.7 percent for the game on 21-of-46 shooting from the floor, but struggled in the second half, only hitting 7 of 20 shots for 35 percent. The Coyotes were led on the boards by Smith with seven, while Boone and Baron each added six.

Carrell and Urban paced Friends with 10 each, while the Falcons were 21-of-55 from the floor for 38.2 percent. Bias and Garvey led the Falcons with five rebounds each as Falcon coach Dale Faber only played six players.

The game was nearly identical looking at the final statistics. Both teams made 21 field goals. Friends hit seven three’s while Wesleyan only hit four, but the Coyotes hit four more free throws giving them the one point advantage. Both teams would grab 32 rebounds.

Both Friends and Kansas Wesleyan are bound for next week’s NAIA Division II National Tournament in Branson. The tournament is hosted by College of the Ozarks. Seedings will be released on Wednesday afternoon by the NAIA.

-- KWU SI --