Coyotes close 2007 with 68-44 loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

ALVA, Okla. – Kansas Wesleyan closed out the 2007 portion of its schedule with a 68-44 loss to Northwestern Oklahoma State on Monday afternoon at Percefull Fieldhouse.

Without leading scorer Trey Sims, the Coyotes were outmatched against the Rangers. The Coyotes were without several players in the game, only sending nine to Alva for the contest.

The good news was the debut of Eric Hammond for the Coyotes. Hammond made an immediate impact in his first action of the season after missing the fall semester due to academic issues – being just short of the required number of hours to be eligible. He had 16 points to lead Wesleyan, who falls to 4-7 on the year.

Falling behind 3-0 early, the Coyotes scored four straight to take a 4-3 lead with 17:59 to go in the first half. The Rangers answered back with a three from Chuck Love just over a minute later. A three from Hammond would give Wesleyan a 7-6 lead with 16:15 to go when the Rangers would open things up.

Termaine Snyder would give Northwestern the lead back at 8-7 and a steal and bucket from Brandon Brown and a score from Marcus Surrell would put the Rangers up five at 12-7 with 14:57 left.

Mychal Henderson would hit a three with 8:48 left to get the Coyotes back within five at 17-12, but the offense would go flat, while the Rangers would capitalize on the heels of a 14-4 run to end the half to take a 31-16 lead into the break.

A Shane Hansen three and a Love bucket would give the Rangers a 20-point cushion to open the second half at 36-16 with 17:48 left.

Both teams would trade buckets before DaRon Stafford would get Wesleyan within 17 at 38-21 with 15:50 to go in the second.

Snyder would score five straight for Northwestern (6-2) to push its lead back out to 22 with 14:56 left.

David Holmes would give the Rangers their biggest lead of the game at 26, 49-23 on a steal and layup with 10:43 to go in the game.

Wesleyan would fight back, using a 17-7 run to get within 16 on a Stafford triple with 4:52 to make it 56-40.

Northwestern would answer right back with four straight points from Shaun Buckingham to push the lead back to 20 with 3:56 left at 60-40.

The Coyotes would shoot their first free throws of the game at the 3:40 mark when Matt Thomas would send Dane Baxa to the line, where he hit one of two charity shots.

Buckingham would hit a three with 13 seconds left to cap the scoring for both teams and send the Coyotes to their second straight loss in a 68-44 decision.

Hammond’s 16 led all scorers in the game, while Stafford added 14 as the only two Coyotes in double figures. Wesleyan struggled to find the basket, shooting 17-of-64 from the field for 26.6 percent, which included a frigid 7-for-32 (21.9 percent) performance in the first half. Romero Hood led the Coyotes with nine rebounds, while Hammond and Henderson each added six despite Wesleyan getting blown out on the boards 53-39 by the bigger, physical Rangers.

Buckingham had 14 off the bench for the Rangers to lead the way, while Snyder had 13 and Shane Hansen would add 12 as Northwestern was 27-of-65 from the field for 41.5 percent. Brown had ten rebounds and Buckingham and Snyder each added eight to lead the Rangers on the glass.

The next action for the Coyotes is on Saturday, January 5, at home against the No.14 ranked Bellevue (Neb.) Bruins. It’s the home opener for the Coyotes, who have played their first 11 games away from the confines of Muir Gym.

-- KWU SI --