DECATUR, Ill. - The Coe College men's basketball team used a dominant second-half effort to earn a 65-56 come-from-behind victory at Millikin University on Tuesday afternoon. The Kohawks and Big Blue battled back and forth in the opening half but the hosts hit five first-half 3s and outscored Coe 32-29 in the period. Coe exploded in the second half, shooting 52 percent from the floor while limiting Millikin to 28.1 percent shooting. The Kohawks edged the Big Blue 36-24 in the final 20 minutes and got 13 points in the frame from both
TJ Schnurr and
Cael Schmitt. Schnurr, who finished with a career-high 21 points, registered his second-straight double-double while being the game's leading scorer. Schmitt turned in 18 points in the game, adding three rebounds, three assists and one steal in a team-high 35 minutes. The win moves Coe to 6-5 on the year while Millikin drops to 7-5 overall.
GAME FACTS:
COE 65 - MILLIKIN 56
- Coe started the scoring with a 3 from Greg Hall but the hosts answered with a seven-point run over the next two minutes. Millikin added another 3 before the Kohawk scoreless streak was snapped on a jumper from Tyson Gage. The visitors began to fight back at the 14:33 mark, ripping off a 13-4 spurt to pull ahead 18-17.
- The teams then traded buckets for the final 10 minutes of the half, trading one-possession leads throughout. Coe took a one-point lead on a 3 from Schmitt with just under three minutes left in the period but Millikin scored the final 4 points to hold a 32-29 lead at the half.
- The Big Blue lead grew to five in the first few minutes of the second but Coe responded over the next three minutes. The Kohawks ripped off an 11-3 run before the 15-minute mark, regaining a two-point lead. Schmitt and Schnurr led the charge, scoring all but two points during the run. Millikin and Coe traded possessions for the next couple of minutes however a layup from Tre McCrary gave the visitors a four-point lead with 11:59 to play.
- The Kohawks slowly extended their lead during the next stretch of the game, outscoring the Big Blue 8-4 before the four-minute mark. Millikin put together one last charge down 56-48, edging Coe by two points to make it 60-54 with 1:21 to play. Coe then converted some clutch free throws with Schnurr and Bennett Sherry clinching the game at the charity stripe.
Up next: Coe will return to action following the holiday break, taking part in the Nashville Invitational on December 29 and 30. The Kohawks will take on Olivet and Johns Hopkins in a pair of non-conference matchups in Nashville, Tennessee.
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