MOUNT VERNON, Iowa — The Coe College men's basketball team opened its 2025-26 season Friday evening with a Bremner Cup victory over Cornell College, defeating the Rams 80-69. Coe and Cornell were evenly matched after the first half, trading a handful of scoring spurts as the half ended level at 34. The Kohawks pulled away around the 15-minute mark of the second half, ripping off a 20-3 run in an eight-minute stretch. The Rams made things interesting in the closing minutes of the game, ripping off a big run to pull within seven at 69-62. Coe calmed down in the final two minutes, hitting 9-of-10 free throws to see the game out.
Cole Hrubes paced the Kohawk offense with 19 points and was joined in double-digits by
Kanyon Bryte (15),
Zach Strauss (11) and
C. Reece Breitenbach (10).
Cooper Nailor stuffed the stat sheet with 11 rebounds, nine points and six assists while tying Hrubes with a team-high 35 minutes.
GAME FACTS
COE 80 - CORNELL 69
- Coe got off to a solid start, using a 6-2 run to start the game as Jackson Bowman, Hrubes and Bryte found the mark early on. Cornell controlled the next few minutes, outscoring Coe 8-4 to level the game at 10 at the 13:30 mark. The Kohawks took the first significant lead with another spurt, scoring nine of the next 12 points to go up 19-13. The run was capped by Breitenbach who made it a six-point game with an old-fashioned three-point play. The Rams slowly worked their way back to level over the next 5:04, getting a 12-7 stretch that was capped by a 3 to give the hosts a 26-25 lead. The final 4-plus minutes were back-and-forth but the Kohawks managed to tie the score in the final minutes with a pair of free throws from Strauss and one each from Nailor and Hrubes. Coe and Cornell traded blows across the first 4:46 of the second half with the game still level at 42 near the 15-minute mark. The Kohawks pulled away during the next phase of play, outscoring the Rams 13-2 to take a 55-44 lead with less than 10 minutes to play. The Rams tried to slow the run with a timeout but the Kohawks stayed on top, extending the lead to 15 at the 6:53 mark. Cornell stayed alive in the game with a 10-3 run, pulling within eight points with 5:29 to play. The Kohawks steadied the ship over the next minute, getting a clutch 3 from Breitenbach to reestablish a double-digit lead. After 3 free throws from Cornell, a small scoring draught ensued until Coe scored six straight, putting the game on ice with a 75-62 lead with 1:29 to play.
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