Coyotes open NAIA Tournament with 92-77 win over Bluefield
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. – Kansas Wesleyan opened their first ever NAIA Division II National Tournament appearance with a 92-77 win over unseeded Bluefield (Va.) on Wednesday afternoon at Keeter Gymnasium at College of the Ozarks.

After the Coyotes controlled the tip, Jeff Baron gave the Coyotes the lead with a bucket on an assist from Tony Boone. Boone converted a steal into a layup by Anthony Smith for a 4-0 lead for the Coyotes.

Curtis Dixon hit a three for Bluefield to get the Rams within one, but the Coyotes would go on a 9-0 run to take a 10-point lead with 17:49 left at 13-3 on a pair of Baron free throws. After Omar Reed got the Rams back within eight, Wesleyan would answer with another 6-0 run to take a 14-point lead with 16:11 left.

Reed would drain a three to get the Rams within 11 at the 15:38 mark. Faubion would steal a JR Montgomery pass and turn it into a score as the Coyotes went on another 10-2 run to take a 19-point lead with 10:24 left at 29-10.

Bluefield would get within 14 on a three-point play by Dixon with 7:34 left at 34-20, before the Coyotes would again answer. Dupre Richardson would convert a miss by Boone igniting a 7-0 Wesleyan run to give the Coyotes a 41-20 lead with 6:07 left in the half.

Dixon would get Bluefield within 15 with 2:11 left, but a free throw by Boone with 1:45 left would cap the scoring by both teams in the half with 1:45 left as the Coyotes took a 49-33 lead into the halftime break.

Reed would hit a three to open the half for Bluefield to get them within 13, before the Coyotes would use a Baron put back, and back to back threes by Marcus Faubion and Smith to pull back out to a 21-point lead, 57-36, with 17:57 left.

After Reed would use a three-point play to get the Rams back within 18, Trey Sims would bury a three igniting another 7-2 Coyote run to give Wesleyan its biggest lead of the night at 26 points with 15:32 left in the game.

After Bluefield would get back within 19, Baron would give the Coyotes a 21-point lead with 8:28 left off another pass from Boone, who had 11 assists on the night. Bluefield would make things interesting with a 14-5 run to get within 12 with 3:51 left on a Reed three.

Smith would drain a three on a Faubion pass as the Coyotes would go back up by 17 three more times, the last at the 1:26 mark on free throws by Boone. Dixon would cap the scoring with just under a minute left as the Coyotes knocked out the Rams with a 92-77 win.

Faubion led the Coyotes with 22 points on 10-for-12 shooting while Smith and Baron added 19 each for Wesleyan as the Coyotes sizzled  from the floor, going 37-of-65 for 56.9 percent. Baron led the way with seven rebounds as the Coyotes won the rebounding battle 36-32.

Reed would lead the way for Bluefield with 26, while Dixon added 24 and James Childress had 12 as the Rams were 26-of-58 from the floor for 44.8 percent. Reed led the Rams with nine rebounds.

The Coyotes advance into the second round to play the winner of the Wednesday nightcap between 11th seeded Northwestern (Iowa) and Albertson (Idaho) on Friday at 4:00 PM.

-- KWU SI --