Coyotes hold off No. 19 Southwestern for 64-63 win
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

WINFIELD – Playing without leading scorer Trey Sims, Kansas Wesleyan would get 31 points from Mychal Henderson to grab a huge 64-63 win over No.19 ranked Southwestern on Thursday night at Stewart Fieldhouse.

David King would put the Moundbuilders up 2-0 on a pair of free throws with 19:50 left in the first half, but the Coyotes would answer back to jump out to a big lead early. DaRon Stafford would score on Wesleyan’s next possession, and Henderson would nail a three to spark an 11-2 run that would see the Coyotes take an 11-4 lead with 16:44 left.

Jarrett Tyler would score sparking an 11-4 Southwestern run that would tie things up on a Sheldon Brown bucket with 10:14 left in the first half.

 Alwyn Jordan would then hit a three to put the ‘Builders up 18-15 with 9:40 left. Southwestern would increase its lead to as many as eight at 4:49 left in the half. Mike Bartee would cut the lead to five at 25-20 with 2:38 to go in the first half, but the ‘Builders would finish the half on a 6-2 run to take a 31-22 lead into the break.

Henderson would knock down a three with 14:38 to go in the second half to give Wesleyan its first lead of the period at 34-33, capping a 12-2 run.

After a Southwestern bucket, Henderson would hit again from deep to put the Coyotes up two with 14:16 to go. Bartee would hit one of two free throws to put the Coyotes up three, but Tyler would answer with a deep three to tie things up with 13:32 left.

Brown would tie the score at 51-all for Southwestern with 8;57 to go, when the Coyotes would answer back with a 6-0 run capped by a McCarty put back with 7:08 left. Tyler would nail another three to cut the lead in half, as the Moundbuilders would rally to tie things up at 62-all with 1:23 left on a dunk from Trey Merrifield.

Merrifield would be called for a technical after the dunk, but the Coyotes could not capitalize as Stafford would miss both free throws. Henderson would score the game winner with 53 seconds to go on a pass from Romero Hood, setting up the final moments of the game.

Wesleyan (4-5, 2-1) would have free throws with 22 seconds left, but a double lane violation would give Southwestern the ball on the possession arrow.

With three fouls to give, the Coyotes would foul three times quickly, and then Stafford would foul Brown to send him to the line to potentially tie the game. He hit the first, and missed the second which was pulled down by Rodney Jackson, who missed a lay up that was grabbed by Henderson to seal the win for the Coyotes.

Henderson’s 31 would lead the Coyotes who struggled in the first half, shooting just 30 percent, but sizzled in the second half, going 18-for-28 for 64.3 percent to finish the night 27-of-58 from the field for 46.6 percent. Hood added 12 for the Coyotes. McCarty led the Coyotes on the boards with eight, while Henderson added seven,

Tyler led Southwestern (6-4, 2-1) with 17, while Jordan had 13, and Brown and Merrifield each posted 11 as the ‘Builders were 24-for-56 from the field for 42.9 percent. Jackson and Merrifield each had seven rebounds to lead Southwestern.

KWU continues its road first semester road trip on Saturday at McPherson, with tipoff scheduled for 7 p.m. from the McPherson College Sport Center. Wesleyan then travels to Hays on December 14 for a game against the Tigers at 7 p.m. from Gross Memorial Coliseum. After a 16-day layoff the Coyotes take on Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva on New Year’s Eve at 2 p.m., before the KWU home opener on January 5 at 4 p.m. against Bellevue (Neb.) inside Muir Gym.

-- KWU SI --