Alex Littlejohn was not feeling well in advance of Kansas Wesleyan's basketball game against McPherson.
Littlejohn, to nobody's surprise though, donned his uniform and played in the Kansas Conference contest Wednesday night inside Mabee Arena. His performance left the visiting Bulldogs feeling puny by game's end.
Littlejohn scored 21 points on 9 of 15 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds in leading KWU to a 72-65 victory. Evens Appolon, the Coyotes' man-mountain center who was playing on his birthday, blocked a program-record 11 shots to go along with eight points and seven rebounds.
The Coyotes ended a two-game losing streak and improved to 5-2 overall, 1-1 in the conference. McPherson fell to 2-3 and 0-2.
Littlejohn, the Coyotes' all-everything senior forward, was magnificent once more. He entered the game averaging 18 points and 12 rebounds.
"Alex was sick all day," coach Anthony Monson said on the postgame radio show. "He wasn't here for most of the day and we didn't know if he was actually going to play until maybe an hour before gametime. He made the big buckets when we needed them."
Littlejohn scored 10 points and KWU shot 55.6 percent from the field (20 of 36) en route to a 44-32 halftime lead.
McPherson rallied in the second half and got as close as three points on four occasions, the last 67-64 with 59 seconds left. The comeback was fueled by a 47-41 rebounding advantage that included 21 offensive rebounds and resulted in 21 second chance points.
"It's been a problem all year and we've got to find a way to fix that," Monson said. "They got 21 offensive boards tonight and we still found a way to win. We're playing with fire especially with (No. 17-ranked) Oklahoma Wesleyan coming here Saturday. That's what they do best and we've got to find a way to clean that glass or we're going to be in a world of hurt."
Appolon, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound transfer from Central Methodist, was one-man wrecking crew on the defensive end. His six blocks in the second half help keep McPherson at bay.
"He's got a ton of potential, he's just so raw and still so young," Monson said. "He's a guy who works hard and he's fun to work with every day. He's got a great attitude and just does everything that you want. It's fun to see him continue to grow and to continue to get better."
After McPherson got within three the final time the Coyotes closed it out in the final 42.3 seconds by making 4 of 6 free throws while McPherson missed two shots - the first blocked by Appolon - and was 1 of 2 at the foul line.
Izaiah Hale added 10 points as KWU shot 47 percent (30 of 64) for the game but just 2 of 13 from beyond the 3-point line. McPherson shot 34 percent (27 of 80) and was 6 of 21 from long range.
Jayden Hall started at point guard for the Coyotes and finished with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and just one turnover.
"He did a good job tonight," Monson said. "That's why I tell everybody you've got to be ready because you never know when I'm going to make a switch. We made a switch tonight and felt like it was what we needed for this game. Luckily for us it worked out."
Charles Snyder and Jamil Hardaway had 14 points apiece for McPherson which was without starting forward Collin Storr.
"I thought defensively, except for a little stretch there in the second half, we were pretty good," Monson said. "And honestly if we wouldn't have given up so many offensive boards and a couple turnovers things would have been a little different."