Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball got 23 points from newcomer Caiden Punt, but the Coyotes could not overcome a hot shooting night by the Nebraska Wesleyan Prairie Wolves in Friday's season opener at Mabee Arena.
Nebraska Wesleyan shot 53 percent from the field on the way to the 81-69 win over the Coyotes in the Coyote Classic.
Nebraska Wesleyan has been a NCAA Division III power for several seasons, including a 2018 NCAA Division III National Championship and was ranked No. 9 in the D3hoops.com Men's Top 25 last season.
It was back and forth to start the game as both teams battled on the court. Trailing 19-16, KWU got four straight points on a Stefan Spray dunk and free throws by Gabe Phillips to take a 20-19 lead with 9:19 left in the first half.
NWU answered right back with six straight to take a 24-20 lead with 7:27 left in the half.
The Coyotes tied it again at 32 and took several 1-point leads before trailing 38-37 at the half.
The Prairie Wolves build an 8-point lead in the second half with just under 15 minutes left. NWU extended the lead to 56-46 with 13:57 left.
KWU managed to cut the lead to four at 66-62 with 7:30 left on a bucket by Punt, but a 13-3 run by Nebraska Wesleyan made it 79-65 with a minute left.
Punt's 23 led all scorers in the game, while Brandon Avedon had 13 in his Coyote debut and Spray had 14. KWU was 25 of 61 shooting for 41 percent for the game, but hit only 4 of 23 3-point tries. Punt had nine rebounds to lead the Coyotes to a 34-33 rebounding margin.