KWU Sports Information
LEAVENWORTH – Kansas Wesleyan coach Anthony Monson wasn't about to let what happened in the second half of Wednesday's game with Ottawa happen again.
And it didn't.
The No. 18 ranked Coyotes turned up the defensive pressure in the second half and held the Saint Mary Spires to 20 points and 23.1 percent shooting, topping the Spires 86-62 at the Ryan Sports Center.
"We said in the locker room, 'look guys here we go again,' and I asked them who won the end of the half, and they said that they did. So I said well, we are down 1-0 now have to respond because it can go either way. A 6-0 run means it's either a 1-point game or a 13-point game, so we came out and responded well."
Let the record show the Coyotes picked the latter.
Instead of letting the Spires carry the momentum of their 6-0 run to end the first half, it was the Coyotes who came out of the locker room and turned the tides, using a 6-1 run in the first two minutes of the half, capped by a 3-pointer by Easton Hunter (JR/Colwich, Kan.) to take a 55-43 lead.
The Spires never got closer than nine points the rest of the night. An 18-6 run by the Coyotes over a 10-minute span in the second half was the decisive run that put the Coyotes up by 21 points on Alex Littlejohn (SO/Newton, Kan.)'s free throws with 3:51 left at 77-56.
Wesleyan turned to the reserves for the final four minutes of the game, and the Spires followed a minute later.
"We kept our foot on the gas, we got stops," Monson said of his team's second half effort. "We mixed up our defense with some full court pressure to change the tempo and got turnovers out of it. That was a plus for us."
Saint Mary was forced into nine second half turnovers and 16 for the game, that netted the Coyotes 24 points. Wesleyan only committed six turnovers in the game.
The Coyotes also found their shot back in the game after struggling Wednesday against Ottawa in the overtime win. KWU finished 33 of 67 for 49.3 percent from the field and hit 9 of 21 3's for 42.9 percent, but were hot in the first 20 minutes shooting 18 of 33 for 54.5 percent.
"I thought for the most part we were pretty good offensively the whole night. It helps when you knock down some shots," Monson said. "I thought we got good looks, we moved the ball pretty well, and really the only thing I can say that wasn't good was the we didn't guard in the first half.
"But we responded and held them to 20 in the second half. We got back to our identity in the second half."
The Coyotes bolted out to a 15-5 lead to open the game on Thurbil Bile (JR/Centennial, Colo.)'s bucket with 16:35 left in the half and the teams traded baskets back and forth until Saint Mary was within 8 at 33-25 with 8:56 left before the break.
Back to back triples by Easton Hunter pushed Wesleyan's lead out to 14 points, the biggest margin of the half with 6:40 to go. After a Saint Mary 3, Hunter again splashed one home from distance keeping the margin at 14. The Coyotes led by 13 with 1:13 left on a bucket by Trey Duffey (JR/Topeka, Kan.), but Saint Mary scored the final six of the half to cut it to seven at the break, 49-42.
Hunter paced four KWU starters in double figures with 20 points, hitting 6 3-pointers in the game and going 7 of 12 from the field. Littlejohn had yet another double-double, scoring 14 and pulling down 12 rebounds, to go along with two blocks, two steals, and four assists. Cory Kaplan (JR/Merritt Island, Fla.) and Jun Murdock (JR/Wichita, Kan.) added 11 each for the Coyotes. Duffey added seven rebounds off the bench.
Deshaud St. Martin led Saint Mary with 15 points and nine rebounds.
The Coyotes close out the fall KCAC slate on Tuesday hosting Sterling inside Mabee Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m., following the women's contest.
"We've got to get ready for a much improved Sterling squad that is night and day different than last year," Monson said. "They're playing really well, and we have to be ready for them. We just have to keep getting better and keep taking steps in the right direction."
The Coyotes then head to Phoenix, Ariz. for games against SAGU-American River College on December 17 and Park Gilbert on December 19 before a 12-day holiday break.
Wesleyan closes out the 2022 calendar with a game against Columbia College on New Year's Eve at Mabee Arena.