KWU Athletics
OTTAWA – Jun Murdock (SO/Wichita) and Cory Kaplan (SO/Merritt Island, Fla.) had the scoring part well in hand.
Once the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes found their mojo on the defensive end of the court their game against Ottawa quickly turned in their favor.
Murdock and Kaplan combined for 30 of KWU's 33 points during a scintillating stretch late in the second half and the Coyotes closed on a 15-1 run en route to an 84-73 victory over Ottawa in the quarterfinals of the Kansas Conference Tournament Thursday night inside Wilson Field House.
The fifth-seeded Coyotes (22-9) advance to the semifinals and a game against either top-seeded Oklahoma Wesleyan or ninth-seeded Avila at 7 p.m. Saturday at the site of the higher seeded team. OKWU and Avila play Friday in Bartlesville, Okla. after their quarterfinal Thursday was postponed because of inclement weather.
It's KWU's first berth in the conference semifinals since 2009.
Trailing 57-48 with just under 13 minutes left Murdock and Kaplan went to work. A 14-4 run capped by a Murdock 3-pointer with 10½ minutes left gave KWU a 62-61 lead.
Ottawa, the No. 4 seed, rallied and took a 72-69 lead on a Jaquan Daniels basket with 4:49 remaining. It was the Braves last field goal of the game, though, as they missed their last six shots, committed four turnovers and were 1-4 from the free throw line the rest of the way.
Murdock, who finished with 26 points, and Kaplan, who had 21, inflicted their damage during an 11-minute frenzy (13:31-2:29) – the final point a Murdock free throw that gave KWU a 78-72 lead.
"It took a lot of will," KWU coach Anthony Monson said on his postgame radio show. "It took a lot of big plays, big shots, a lot of just getting the job done.
"We started putting together back-to-back-to-back stops. Early in the second half we weren't doing that, they were kind of doing whatever they wanted to do."
Murdock, who was named to the All-KCAC First Team earlier in the week, played perhaps his best game of the season. He was 7 of 14 from the field, 3 of 5 from the perimeter, 9 of 10 at the foul line and had eight assists and three rebounds. Kaplan, who's been on a scoring tear of late, was 9 of 15 from the field and had five rebounds and five assists.
Easton Hunter (FR/Colwich, Kan.) added 14 points – 12 in the first half – and AJ Range (SR/Junction City, Kan.) grabbed 13 rebounds along with six points. The Coyotes shot 50 percent for the game (28 of 56), were 8 of 17 from beyond the arc, 20 of 26 at the foul line and outrebounded Ottawa 38-28.
Ottawa shot 46 percent (29 of 63), just 3 of 16 from deep and was 12 of 18 at the line. Joe Johnson III and Tristen Hull led the Braves with 13 points apiece.
"I think people forgot how good this team really was at the start of the year (12-1)," Monson said. "We're the fifth seed and we put ourselves in that hole. I told our guys we should be playing this game at home tonight but we did it to ourselves and now we've got to go take advantage of it.
"We were not going to have the crowd to pump us up but what you do is you use the crowd to (make you mad). I thought we used the crowd to our advantage tonight."
That said, Monson was impressed with raucous atmosphere in Wilson Field House.
"People don't realize how loud this place is and what a hostile environment this is," he said. "I'll be honest, this was one of the best environments in a playoff game I've been in. Period."
Wesleyan raced to an early 21-9 lead as Hunter made three quick 3-pointers. Ottawa (21-11) battled back and led 39-35 before Hunter made a long 3 just before the halftime horn to get the Coyotes within 39-38 at the break.
Third-seeded Southwestern (25-6) plays second-seeded Bethel (25-6) in North Newton in Saturday's the other semifinal. Southwestern defeated Bethany 77-59 and Bethel edged McPherson 68-65 in the other quarterfinal games.
The Coyotes lost twice to Oklahoma Wesleyan and split with Avila during the regular season.
"I'm happy for my guys, I'm happy they likely get to go play somebody I've got so much respect for in Oklahoma Wesleyan," Monson said. "We're going to give it everything we've got."
The KCAC championship will be played at 8 p.m. Monday inside Hartman Arena in Park City. KWU has played in just one other NAIA Tournament since 1950 – 2007 when coach Tommy DeSalme led the Coyotes to the KCAC's regular season and tournament championships.