Coyotes hold on for 51-48 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State
By: David Toelle, KWU Sports Information

LINDSBORG – Kansas Wesleyan provided an exciting finish to the 2007 KWU Basketball Classic with a 51-48 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State University on Saturday night at Hahn Gym.

The Coyotes jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the game, holding the Rangers scoreless until the 15:51 mark when Shaun Buckingham would hit a free throw making it 5-1. 

Felipe Eichenberger would hit a shot to make it 5-3 with 15:01 left in the first half, but the Coyotes would respond, scoring four straight points all on free throws to take a 9-3 lead with 13:55 to go in the first half.

A Cameron Davis three with 11:37 left would get the Rangers within one at 11-10, but the Coyotes would again answer with a 12-4 run giving Wesleyan a 23-14 lead with 7:57 to go in the first half on a three from Mychal Henderson.

The Rangers would fight back and use a 10-0 run to take a 24-23 lead on a bucket by Brandon Brown. Mike Bartee would hit a shot to give the Coyotes the lead back with 3:47 to go in the half.

Both teams would go scoreless for nearly a minute and a half when David Holmes would hit one of two free throws to tie it at 25 with 2:18 left. No one would score until Trey Sims would hit a shot with 35 seconds to go in the first half, and the Coyotes would take a 27-25 lead into the break.

The Coyotes would open the second half with a 10-3 run to take a 37-28 lead with 15:39 left, but the Rangers would rally, tying things up at 37-all with 11:52 to go on a Termaine Snyder three-point play.

Wesleyan would not give in easily, going back up by three on a conventional three point play from Stafford with 11:09 to go. The Coyotes would hold a lead until the 4:56 mark with Brown would hit a shot to give NOSU a 44-43 lead.

The Coyotes would grab the lead back on a three from Sims, only to have Brown tie it back up at 46-all with 2:31 to go. The Coyotes would not give up the lead, pulling out to a four-point advantage with 22 second left, and would hold on for the win as Stafford would hit one of two free throws to seal the win.

Sims led the Coyotes with 18 points, while three other Wesleyan players had six each as the Coyotes struggled to find the basket, shooting a frigid 28.3 percent on 17-of-60 shooting from the field. Willie McCarty and Henderson would lead the Coyotes with seven boards as both teams hauled in 39 rebounds each.

Brown had 11 points, as did Buckingham, who also added a game high 19 rebounds for the Rangers. NOSU was 19-of-53 from the field for 35.8 percent. The Rangers struggled from the perimeter, only hitting one of 16 shots from beyond the arc.

Wesleyan is back in action on Tuesday as they head to Bellevue, Neb., to take on the Bruins in a 7:00 tipoff from the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The Coyotes then head to Topeka for a pair of exhibition games in the AM580/Premier Mortgage Holiday Classic hosted by Washburn University on next Friday and Saturday.

-- KWU SI --