DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Coe College men's basketball team opened up American Rivers Conference play on Wednesday night with a 86-71 loss to Dubuque. The game was a tale of two halves as the Kohawk offense got off to a slow start and were unable to recover. After being held to 20 points in the first half the Kohawks scored 51 in the final 20 minutes of play but the strong second frame was not enough to overcome the deficit. The loss moves Coe to 0-1 on the year while Dubuque improves to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the league. 
 
Jarad Kruse recorded a double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Kohawks. Jake Eilers went 3-of-4 from 3-point range as he scored 11 points while Cael Schmitt added nine points and four assists. 
 
The Spartans got an early lead on the Kohawks as they started the game on a 7-0 run. Both offenses struggled early as the Dubuque lead was just 13-7 midway through the first half. Despite struggling to score the Kohawks kept it close trailing by eight with just over three and a half minutes left in the half. The Spartans then ripped off a 13-2 run to close out the half, giving them a lead of 39-20 at the halftime break. 
 
The Kohawk offense came to life in the second half as they strung together multiple runs to cut into the Dubuque lead. They were able to cut the lead to 10 with a little over 13 minutes to play after three straight buckets from Kruse, Greg Hall and Schmitt but Dubuque responded to the Kohawk run and kept them at bay. The final Kohawk push cut it to 82-70 with just under a minute remaining but the Spartans saw out the remaining moments of the game en route to the victory. 
 
Up next: Coe will continue its campaign on Saturday, January 30 when they host Simpson in their home opener at 4:00 p.m.
 
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