LINCOLN, Neb. - The Coe College men's basketball team fell 76-50 to top-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan in Saturday night's American Rivers Conference Championship game. Coe had a solid opening to the contest, trailing by just two with 7-plus minutes left in the first but NWU outscored the Kohawks 16-8 to end the half with a 10-point lead. The Prairie Wolves then kicked off the second half on fire, putting together an 11-6 outburst to take control of the game. Coe ends the year 17-10 overall and 11-5 in the league while NWU improves to 24-3 overall while securing the automatic bid to the D3 NCAA Tournament for the third-straight season. 
 
Josh Schmitt was the lone Kohawk in double-figures as the senior guard finished with 12 points while converting 3-of-8 from distance. Adam McDermott, Jarad Kruse, TJ Kaufmann and Austin Roth all finished with six points.
 
Both teams started slowly in their third meeting of the year, combining for just four buckets in the opening three minutes of the game. Leading 6-5, the Prairie Wolves extended their lead after a 3-pointer from Cordell Gillingham but the Kohawks answered on the other end with a Roth layup. The league's top-team then ripped off 10-straight points to take early control of the contest, leading 19-7 with just over 10 minutes left in the opening frame.
 
Despite the spurt, Coe hung tough, responding with seven consecutive points to cut the lead to five and force an NWU timeout with 7:51 in the first. The Prairie Wolves turned possession over following the timeout after an offensive foul and Coe took advantage as Zach Niemeyer hit a three on the ensuing possession to cut the lead to 19-17. 
 
Again, the Prairie Wolves showed their composure, putting together a 13-2 spurt over the next 3:40 to regain control of the contest at 32-19. Although it faced its largest deficit of the game, Coe continued to fight, ending the half with six of the final nine points to trail by 10, 35-25 at the half.  
 
Nebraska Wesleyan exploded out of the break, stretching its lead with an 11-6 spurt over the first six minutes of the second half. Coe slowed the run thanks to a 3 from Schmitt but the Prairie Wolves refused to slow down, clapping back with a 10-4 outburst to take an 18-point lead with just over ten minutes left to play in the game. The Kohawks cut the deficit back to 15 after a 3 from McDermott but NWU scored the next five points to stretch its lead to 20 for the first time in the game. Coe continued to battle for the remainder of the half but hot shooting and tough defense from Nebraska Wesleyan erased any chance of a comeback for the Kohawks. 
 
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