Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball faced the Concordia Bulldogs on Thursday night at Mabee Arena and the Coyotes would come up short against the Bulldogs 89-61.
Concordia, who was picked to win the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) this season used a big second half outscoring the Coyotes by 15, 44-29, to pull away for the win.
It was another game for the Coyotes where the opponents nearly couldn't miss. Concordia shot 52.7 percent from the field for the game, including a red hot 55.6 percent (15 of 27) in the second half.
The Bulldogs also hit 12 3-pointers, going 12 of 25 from deep for 48 percent.
Wesleyan jumped out to a 6-3 lead to start the game as Brandon Redic scored the first six points of the night for the Coyotes.
The Coyotes would hold the lead until the 14:48 mark when Concordia took a 10-9 lead on Hayden Frank's 3-pointer. Concordia led by as many as four before the Coyotes came back and tied it at 13 on free throws by Attie Reeves and a steal and bucket by Riley Wolf.
Dakarai Davis' triple with 9:28 left in the first gave the Coyotes a 21-18 lead but Concordia would hang tough with the Coyotes. A bucket by Redic with 7:28 left gave the Coyotes a 26-24 lead, but Concordia answered with a 12-0 run to take a 36-26 lead with 4:47 to go in the half.
KWU trailed 45-32 at the break.
A bucket by Braylin Goins got the Coyotes back within eight at the 14:40 mark at 51-43 after trailing by as many as 17 to start the second half.
Another 12-0 run by Concordia would push the Bulldogs' lead out to 20 at 66-46 with 10:20 to go in the game.
The Coyotes could not bounce back from there falling to the Bulldogs.
Redic led the Coyotes with 18 points while Goins added 13. KWU was 22 of 46 from the field for 47.8 percent in the game. Redic and Grill had four rebounds each to lead the Coyotes. Goins had five assists.
The Coyotes committed 20 turnovers that led to 26 points for Concordia.