CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The Coe College men's basketball team opened its 2022-23 season with a narrow 68-67 victory over Cornell College on Wednesday evening. Coe, which extends its winning streak to four games over the visitors, raced out to a double-digit lead in the first half but was forced to fend off a comeback attempt in the second. The Kohawks were led by a trio of double-digit scorers as
Cael Schmitt, Greg Hall and
TJ Schnurr did the heavy lifting with 20, 18 and 17 points respectively. Schmitt, Coe's lone returning all-conference player, was 8-of-16 from the floor and added five boards and five dimes. Hall, who had the game-winning defensive stop, was 8-of-18 from the field and chipped in with five rebounds. The win gives Coe a 1-0 record to begin the season while Cornell falls to 0-1 to open the campaign.
GAME FACTS:
COE 68 - CORNELL 67
- Coe got the opening basket of the contest on a layup from Max Lampe but Cornell answered with back-to-back buckets, settling into the atmosphere. Coe then took control at the 16:40 mark, ripping off a 10-3 run which included six points from Schmitt as he put his team in front 12-7. Cornell responded in a major way during the next one-plus minute, getting a 7-0 scoring stretch to regain the momentum and lead at 14-12.
- The Kohawks showed poise despite the scoreless run, answering the call with a 12-6 spurt of their own to pull back ahead 24-20. The first-half dominance continued down the final five minutes of the period, with Coe extending its lead to 13 at 41-28. Hall had eight points over the final 5:58 of the half, hitting a 3 just as time expired in the first.
- Coe's lead grew in the first four minutes of the second, edging Cornell 11-7 during the run to push its lead to 17. Cornell refused to quit despite its largest deficit of the game, using an 11-2 run over the next 3:28 to slice into Coe's advantage. Schmitt, who scored the lone bucket during the run, added another to push the lead back to 10 but the Rams stayed scrappy. The visitors continued to claw their way back, using another dominant stretch to pull within four points with just under five minutes to play.
- Schmitt again answered with a clutch jumper on the other end but back-to-back 3s from Zach Ingle knotted the game at 62 with 2:02 remaining. TJ Schnurr then put Coe back in front with a pair of crucial free throws before an old-fashioned three-point play gave Cornell a 65-64 lead. The teams then traded layups on the next two possessions but John Steffen gave Coe the lead for good on a running layup with just over 10 seconds to play. After a timeout, Hall came up with the biggest play of the game, blocking Cornell's final shot attempt to secure the victory.
Up next: Coe returns to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon, hosting Graceland at Kohawk Arena at 1 PM.
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