Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball got its first win of 2026 as the Coyotes knocked off the Evangel University Valor 72-70 on Saturday night inside Mabee Arena.
It was two free throws by freshman Braylin Goins with 1.7 seconds left that sealed the deal for the Coyotes in a game that neither team led by more than six points - a 23-17 lead for KWU with 7:27 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Matthew Garber and a 61-55 lead with 7:25 left in the game.
Evangel's Harrison Doennig hit a shot as time expired to make the final score 72-70.
"It feels good to get out of a rut like we have been in, losing a bunch of close games, but we have continued to fight each night," KWU coach Jordan Murdock said on the postgame radio show. "It was fun again for us tonight."
Wesleyan's young lineup again was key as several players who had not seen action recently or were just called up to the varsity squad from the developmental team played key roles in Saturday's win, including Jayden Hall and Garrett Robertson.
"We are a really young team and sometimes I think the adversity of losing several games in a row was hard for us, but I am proud of the way we came out tonight and played hard," Murdock said. "The energy was different for us tonight, but we have to make sure we continue that."
It took nearly two minutes for either team to score in the game as Caiden Punt's free throws with 18:03 in the first broke the ice.
The lead bounced back and forth until a bucket by Gabriel Phillips gave Wesleyan a 6-5 lead that pushed out to 10-6 on a Punt field goal with 15:22 left.
Evangel took an 11-10 lead with a bucket with 11:44 to go, but Wyatt Powell scored for the Coyotes sparking a 5-0 KWU run, all points from Powell to make it 15-11. Evangel scored the next four to tie it, but Goins nailed a 3-pointer to give the lead back to the Coyotes.
Garber's triple with 7:27 left gave KWU its biggest lead of the game at six points at 23-17.
Evangel cut the difference to one and took the lead back again at 33-30 with 3:18 to go in the half.
The lead changed hands a couple more times until Evangel would take a 38-36 lead into the half.
Evens Appolon tied it to start the second half for the Coyotes, but the Valor would take a 41-38 lead with just under 18 minutes left.
Back came the resilient Coyotes again, tying it on a Goins triple that sparked an 8-0 KWU run that made it 46-41 on Hall's triple with 15:13 to go.
An 8-2 run by Evangel gave the Valor a 49-48 lead with 11:26 left, but free throws by Appolon pushed the Coyotes back ahead at 50-49.
Evangel led 55-54 with 8:17 left, but Punt's free throws gave the Coyotes the lead for good, sparking a 7-0 run that made it 61-55 with 7:25 left on a bucket by Hall.
The Valor got within a point with 3:12 left, but the Coyotes wouldn't give up the lead the rest of the way.
Punt led the Coyotes with 15 points, while Goins had 14. Hall added nine and Appolon eight as KWU was 22 of 48 from the field for 45.8 percent. Goins led the team with five rebounds and handed out four assists.
"Tonight's win was a total team effort against a really good Evangel team," Murdock said. "I am excited for our group moving forward."