CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The #19 Coe College men's basketball team continued its strong season with its eleventh A-R-C victory, defeating Luther College 76-54 on Wednesday evening at Kohawk Arena. Coe and Luther played a tightly contested opening half, with the hosts threatening, but failing to pull away throughout the majority of the period. The hosts managed to push their advantage just ahead of the halftime break, ripping off a 16-9 run in the final seven minutes to go up 37-30 after 20 minutes. Coe went on to dominate the final half of action, outscoring Luther 39-24 to close out the contest. The Kohawks were clicking on offense for the entirety of the second half, shooting 13-of-26 from the floor and 12-of-13 from the free throw line.
Cael Scmitt scored a game-high 22 points as the senior guard was a perfect 8-of-8 from the line while adding three assists and two steals.
TJ Schnurr fell just short of the 20-point mark, contributing 19 points and six boards.
Josh Schloe was the third Kohawk to reach double-digits on the evening, scoring 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting.
#18 COE 76 - LUTHER 54
GAME FACTS
- Luther and Coe traded baskets in the first five minutes, with each team scoring 10 points early on. The back-and-forth nature persisted for the next few minutes but a 3 from Ryan Dolphin kickstarted a dominant Kohawk run. Dolphin's 3 made it 21-19 with 8:09 left in the half and set the stage for Coe's strong close to the period, outscoring Luther 16-11 in the final eight minutes. Cooper Nailor scored six points during the stretch, converting back-to-back 3s to help put Coe up 37-30 at the half. Luther came out of the break on top, scoring five-straight points to immediately slice the deficit to just two. The Kohawks remained calm and found a response, scoring 12 of the next 14 points to regain a double-digit lead at 49-37. Schnurr and Schmitt led the run, combining for 10 points along the way. Luther hung around for the next four minutes of game time, trading buckets to keep within touching distance midway through the half. The hosts put the game away for good around the 10-minute mark, scoring 12 unanswered points to push the lead past 20 with less than five minutes to play. Coe's bench handled the final few moments of the contest, eventually cruising to its nineteenth win of the campaign.
Up next: The Kohawks hit the road for a pivotal A-R-C matchup in Lincoln, taking on Nebraska Wesleyan on Saturday, February 10 at 4 PM.
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