NORTH NEWTON - Caiden Punt made seven 3-pointers and finished with 23 points, but it wasn't enough to propel Kansas Wesleyan past a red-hot Bethel team.
The Threshers outscored the Coyotes 9-5 in the final 1:04 of the game enroute to a 72-68 Kansas Conference victory, Wednesday night inside Thresher Gym.
The loss put a damper on Punt's superb performance that saw him make 7 of 10 shots from 3-point range. He scored 15 in the first half, going 5 of 6 from the perimeter, and shot 8 of 16 for the game. He also had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
"I thought we were moving the ball a lot better," KWU coach Jordan Murdock said on the postgame radio show. "Whenever we can come down court and get into our stuff, we've usually had no problem scoring the ball. I think our biggest thing right now is defending the basketball and turnovers. We've got to fix that."
KWU committed 20 turnovers that led to 20 Bethel points. The Threshers had 11 turnovers.
The Coyotes led 37-34 at halftime after opening the game with a 16-4 burst. Bethel battled back with a 14-2 run, but a 12-2 KWU burst made it 28-19 with 8:48 left in the half. Bethel answered with a 13-3 surge that tied it 34-34, 2½ minutes before the break. The Coyotes scored the last three points for their three-point cushion at intermission.
Wesleyan built a 51-46 lead with 11:48 left in the game, but an 11-0 run gave the Threshers a 57-51 lead at the 7:24 mark. The Coyotes responded once again, this time with a 10-4 rally that tied it 61-61 with 2:49 remaining - the last three points on Punt's final triple of the game.
KWU tied again at 63 on an Evens Appolon dunk with 1:35 left before Bethel pulled away by scoring seven of the next points and led 70-65 with 10 seconds left. Braylin Goins' three free throws cut the deficit to 70-68 with five seconds on the clock but Dominick Harris' two free throws with four seconds left put the game out of reach.
Bethel (12-3, 7-2 KCAC) has won five in a row and 10 of 12. The Coyotes fell to 6-8 and 4-5.
"We had way more effort in this game than we had (Saturday against Tabor). I thought we battled," Murdock said. "Obviously, they're a great team that creates a lot of turnovers, and I think those turnovers really hurt us in this game. We had a special opportunity, but we can't do little things like turn the ball over and give them extra offensive rebounds."
Wyatt Powell and Gabe Phillips scored nine apiece while Brandon Avedon had eight, nine assists and five rebounds for KWU. Carmelo Yakubu led Bethel with 18 points.
The Coyotes shot 50 percent for the game (24 of 48) including 11 of 17 from beyond the 3-point arc. Bethel shot 44 percent (26 of 59) and was 9 of 23 from deep. KWU won the rebounding battle 33-29.