LINCOLN, Neb. - The Coe College men's basketball team suffered an 87-73 loss at Nebraska Wesleyan on Wednesday evening at Snyder Arena. The Prairie Wolves jumped out to an early lead, dominating the final 10 minutes of the first period to hold a 44-29 lead at the break. Coe stormed back in the second half, ripping off a 16-0 stretch to pull within three points with 13:17 left to play. The teams then went back and forth over the final minutes of the game but the hosts pulled out the victory, ending the contest on a 14-6 spurt to hang on.
Cael Schmitt continued to pace the Coe offense, finishing the game with a team-high 24 points while adding five assists, three boards, two steals and two blocks.
TJ Schnurr was close behind Schmitt, posting 22 points on 8-of-17 shooting while converting 6-of-7 free throw attempts.
Greg Hall was the final Kohawk to reach double-digits, posting 17 points, three shy of his season-high. With the loss, Coe drops to 10-7 on the season and 4-4 in the A-R-C while NWU improves to 11-6 and 6-2 in the league.
GAME FACTS:
NWU 87 - COE 73
- Coe quickly jumped ahead, getting a game-opening 3 from Schmitt less than 20 seconds into the contest. The squads then traded blows for the next few minutes but a quick 7-2 run gave the hosts their first lead at 12-11 with 13:52 left in the first. NWU slowly began to build a lead, outscoring Coe 13-2 during the next 4:14 of game time, extending their advantage to 25-13.
- The Kohawks settled back into the period, exchanging successful offensive possessions with the hosts for the next few minutes yet NWU continued to hold a comfortable lead. The hosts padded their lead in the final 3:41 of the first half, narrowly outscoring Coe 9-6 to grab a 44-29 lead at the break. The Prairie Wolves shot 64.3 percent in the first half and hit 7-of-12 from deep while holding Coe to just 36.7 percent shooting and 4-of-11 from range.
- The back-and-forth action remained present in the first few minutes of the second, with each team scoring seven points in the first 3:13. Coe then began its comeback attempt with just under 17 minutes to play, putting together a dominant 16-0 run in less than three minutes of action. Schmitt spearheaded the spurt, scoring 13 points during the run including a trio of 3s and four free throws.
- NWU put an end to the run with a 3 and quickly started its own, using a 12-6 stretch to regain control of the contest with a 63-55 advantage. Coe continued to claw back over the final half of the second, pulling within six points twice in the final minutes but the hosts converted a few clutch offensive possessions to hang on for the win.
Up next: Coe is back in action this weekend on Saturday, January 21, hosting Simpson College at Kohawk Arena at 4 PM.
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