INDIANOLA, Iowa - The Coe College men's basketball team picked up an 84-62 victory over Simpson College at Cowles Fieldhouse. The Kohawks took the lead early in the first half thanks to some solid shooting from the floor as the visitors were 13-of-29 from the floor in the opening 20 minutes. Coe. which held a seven-point lead at the break, dominated the second half, shooting 60.7 percent from the floor while holding Simpson to just 36 points in the period. The win is Coe's second-straight and moves the Kohawks to 13-5 overall and 5-4 in the league while Simpson drops to 4-12 and 1-6 in the league.
Jarad Kruse led the Kohawk offense once again, scoring a team-high 23 points while adding seven boards and two steals. Fellow seniors
Ray Thrapp, Sam Auen and
Jacob Robertson joined Kruse in double-figures as the trio registered 15, 13 and 11 points respectively. Thrapp, who was 5-of-7 from the floor, chipped in with five rebounds, three assists and one steal in 26 minutes of action. Robertson also stuffed the stat sheet for the Kohawks, posting four boards, four assists and two steals while playing a team-high 31 minutes.
COE 84 - SIMPSON 62
Game Facts
- Robertson opened the scoring for Coe just over 20 seconds in with a long-distance jumper to give the visitors an early 3-0 lead. The squads then traded buckets for a few moments as a 3 from Simpson's Caden Rehmeier made it 8-8 with 16:27 left in the first half. The Kohawks then opened up a 9-2 run during the next four minutes of action to take the game's first substantial lead at 17-10.
- The teams went cold for the next four-plus minutes but Simpson went on a 6-0 run including four points from Tajen Ross which allowed the Storm to pull within one. Coe answered back with back-to-back 3s from Auen, who put the Kohawks back ahead 23-18 with 4:45 remaining in the opening period. The visitors continued to fire on offense, scoring six-straight points to grab a nine-point advantage at the 2:44 mark. Simpson cut the lead to seven before the halftime buzzer, scoring six of the final 10 points in the period to trail 33-26 at the half.
- Robertson again opened the scoring in the second half, hitting a jumper to push the Kohawk lead to nine before Thrapp connected from deep to make it 38-26. Kruse continued to extend Coe's lead after an empty Simpson possession, getting another layup to give the Kohawks a 14-point lead. Simpson refused to quit despite its largest deficit of the game, getting a 12-4 run during the next three-plus minutes as Ross hit a pair of free throws to slice the lead to 44-38.
- Coe buckled down after the spurt from the hosts, scoring back-to-back buckets thanks to John Steffen and Robertson as the pair helped push the lead back in double-figures. Simpson continued to threaten, getting an old-fashioned three-point play from Ross to make it 50-41 with just over 11 minutes remaining. The Kohawks once again showed poise, ripping off a 10-5 spurt across the next three-plus minutes to push the lead back to 14 points. The offense continued to dominate over the next few moments, pushing the lead to 20 points as Auen scored back-to-back buckets for the Kohawks which put the contest out of reach for the Storm.
Up next: The Kohawks return home on Wednesday, January 26 when they host Luther College at Kohawk Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM.
#KohawkNation
Visit https://kohawkathletics.com/ for complete coverage of Coe College Athletics
Like Coe College Athletics on Facebook
Follow @CoeAthletics on Twitter
Follow @CoeAthletics on Instagram
Coe Athletics Mobile App - Android | iPhone
