The first eight minutes of Kansas Wesleyan's basketball game against No. 5-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan went about as well as the Coyotes could have hoped.
The next 32 minutes weren't nearly as productive or enjoyable, though.
OKWU erased an early nine-point deficit with a big scoring run then tallied the first 21 points of the second half and pulled away for an 85-56 Kansas Conference victory Wednesday night inside Mabee Arena.
The loss dropped the Coyotes to 14-6 overall and 9-6 in conference play. OKWU improved to 20-1 and 14-1.
KWU appeared to be in good shape early on. Tyus Jeffries (SR/Oklahoma City, Okla.)' two free throws extended the Coyotes' lead to 14-5 with 13:22 left in the half but OKWU flipped with switch shortly thereafter.
Austin Poling's basket with 11:44 remaining ignited a 22-6 rally that saw the Eagles score on nine consecutive possessions, including four 3-pointers, and take a 27-20 lead with 7:28 left.
KWU battled back and tied the game at 32 on an Easton Hunter (FR/Colwich, Kan.) 3-pointer at the 2:00 mark but the Eagles answered by scoring the next six and led 38-32 at halftime.
The second half was all OKWU. The Eagles scored the first 21 points, led 59-32 with 14:32 left and KWU got no closer than 21 the rest of the game.
OKWU shot 55.2 percent the second half (16 of 29), outrebounded the Coyotes 45-26 for the game and scored 33 points off 19 KWU turnovers.
"We knew we had to do certain things right to win the game," Coyote coach Anthony Monson said. "We had a great start, we had them right where we wanted them limiting their opportunities, one shot and done. But we got a little loose – gave up way too many boards, way too many turnovers. Give a team like that second, third and fourth chances and they'll make you pay and they did.
"The second half we came out flat and they came out with a lot of energy and they ran us out of our gym."
OKWU's strategy of substituting five players at a time at regular intervals throughout the game paid big dividends once again.
"The second five has an all-conference player in Kaleb Stokes sitting there," Monson said. "They play really well, they move the ball, they're unselfish, they play with one another, they don't force the issue with anything and everybody is okay with just playing a role. Whether they score or not, they don't care."
Brandon Bird led OKWU with 17 points while Dylan Phillip had 13 and Stokes 11 – the latter two members of the second shift. The Eagles shot 50 percent for the game (32 of 64), 36.7 percent from beyond the arc (11 of 30), and had 17 steals.
Jeffries led KWU with 13 points followed by AJ Range (SR/Junction City, Kan.) with nine and seven rebounds. The Coyotes shot 36.4 percent (20 of 55), including 7 of 24 from deep.
"Sometimes you've just got to say 'throw this one in the garbage,'" Monson said. "We don't have time to dwell on it because we've got to play a good Ottawa team on the road (in our next game)."
The KWU-Ottawa contest will be played at 7 p.m. Saturday inside Wilson Field House. The Braves (13-8, 9-6 KCAC) defeated Saint Mary 100-72 Wednesday night in Leavenworth for their third consecutive victory.