STERLING - Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball fell to the Sterling College Warriors on Wednesday night 69-66 inside the Gleason Center.
It was another close and heartbreaking loss for the Coyotes, whose last five losses have all come by three points or less, and a combined 14 points.
The Coyotes trailed by six points at halftime, 33-27, but got within a point with just under 18 minutes to go in the second half when Easton Hunter hit a 3-pointer. After Sterling took a three-point lead at 37-34, Tucker Bowman nailed a triple to tie things up with 16:32 left.
The Warriors pushed the lead back out to nine with 61-52 with 3:40 left, but the Coyotes made one final push, cutting the difference to three points again at 66-63 on a bucket by Alex Littlejohn with 31.6 seconds left.
Wesleyan tried valiantly to come back, but free throws by Sterling down the stretch pushed the Warriors' lead back out to six at 69-63. A 3-pointer by Hunter made the final difference 69-66.
The Coyotes hit the first bucket of the game, a 3-pointer by Bowman, but Sterling broke a 5-5 tie with a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 lead with 15:48 left in the first half.
Sterling took a 19-9 lead with 12:33 to go in the first, but KWU got back within four at 27-23 with 4:09 left in the first on a score by Littlejohn.
The Coyotes shot 41.5 percent from the field with Littlejohn leading the way with 25 points as the lone KWU player in double figures. Hunter and Carson Jones had eight, and Bowman and Gabe Phillips had six. Littlejohn also pulled down 11 rebounds.