SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball could not hold onto a five-point lead in the final five minutes of Saturday's game against the Evangel Valor, falling 77-74 at AGFinancial Arena.
Wesleyan led 72-67 with 4:27 to go after a pair of free throws by Easton Hunter.
Evangel got a 3-pointer on its next possession by Manrique Alvarado to get within two, but a score by Evens Appolon on KWU's next possession kept the Coyotes up by four with 3:37 left.
Bryce Ware's score after a KWU turnover cut the Coyote lead to a point with two minutes left and Evangel took the lead at 75-74 on a bucket with 1:31 to go. A pair of free throws by Evangel with 22 seconds left gave the Valor a 77-74 lead.
The Coyotes had three looks at a bucket in the final seconds, including a pair of potential game-tying 3-pointers but could not get one to fall to force overtime.
Wesleyan jumped out to a 4-0 lead to start the game, and led again by four on Alex Littlejohn's score with 15:11 left in the first.
Evangel was back within a point at 10-9 with 13:10 left, but a six-point spurt by the Coyotes on a pair of Landon Wagler 3-pointers gave the Coyotes a 16-9 lead with 11:35 to go.
The Valor got back within a point again at 22-21 with 6:31 left only to see the Coyotes answer back with a 10-2 run that gave KWU a 32-23 lead with 3:46 left on Littlejohn's score. Littlejohn gave the Coyotes a 34-25 lead with 2:11 to go, but Evangel scored the final six points of the half to cut the lead to 34-31 at the intermission.
Evangel scored six straight points to open the second half to take a 37-34 lead, but Tucker Bowman connected on a 3-pointer to tie things back up at 37 with 19:02 left.
The teams traded baskets until Hunter's 3 with 17:13 to go gave the Coyotes a brief advantage, 42-41. Evangel took a 44-42 lead when the Coyotes rattled off seven straight points to take a 49-44 lead with 15:31 to go on an Appolon bucket.
The Coyotes would hold onto the lead, going up by as many as six with 12:42 left on a bucket by Littlejohn.
Evangel would take a 61-58 lead with 8:19 to go, and led 64-63 before Littlejohn's score with 6:44 left gave the Coyotes a 65-64 lead. Evangel again came back and took the lead before the Coyotes scored the next seven to take the 72-67 lead with 4:27 left.
Littlejohn led the Coyotes with 16 points and 13 rebounds, recording his 57th career double-double in the process and inching closer to Charles Fiffe's 75-year-old all-time career rebounding record. He is 18 rebounds away from breaking the record.
KWU had three others in double figures as Appolon scored 12, Bowman and Carson Jones had 11 each. KWU was 26 of 60 from the field for 43.3 percent and outrebounded Evangel 39-31.