CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The Coe College men's basketball team stormed back in the second half from down 15 to pick up 76-71 victory in its regular season finale Saturday afternoon at Kohawk Arena, defeating Simpson College in comeback fashion. The visitors controlled much of the opening half, building an early lead with a hot start before extending the advantage to 43-31 at the halftime break. Coe found itself down 15 early in the second half as Simpson used a 7-4 run to extend the advantage to 50-35.
John Payan turned to his reserves to change Coe's fortunes and came up gold as his second unit dominated the next six-plus minutes with a 20-3 game-changing run. The run featured 10 points from
Zach Strauss while
C. Reece Breitenbach, Ryan Dolphin, Aaron Foote and
Kaleb Wilgenbusch each recorded points on the stretch. The Koahwks and Storm went back-and-forth over the closing 10 minutes of the contest but a clutch go-ahead 3 from
Cooper Nailor with 1:15 to play proved to be the pivotal moment as Coe completed the comeback. Nailor scored a team-high 15 points in the game and was joined by
Kanyon Bryte (12),
Deuce Walters (12) and Strauss (10) in double-digits.
GAME FACTS
COE 76 - SIMPSON 71
- Simpson was scorching to start the contest, scoring 13 of the opening 17 points in just under six minutes to grab an early lead. Coe quickly got back into the game over the next phase, using a 7-1 run that cut the Storm lead to just three at 14-11. Another run from the visitors extended the gap before the seven-minute mark with Simpson going on another 13-4 streak to lead 27-15. The Kohawks clawed back into the contest yet again, scoring 10 of the next 13 to cut Simpson's lead to five with four minutes left in the half. The Storm surged in the final moments of the first half, outscoring Coe 13-6 in the closing minutes to take a 43-31 lead into the break. Simpson responded with a 7-0 run early in the second half after Coe cut the lead momentarily, taking its largest lead of the game at 50-35 with a 7-0 run. Coe's second unit stepped up massively during the next phase, outscoring the Storm 20-3 while forcing the Storm to go 0-for-6 from the floor with a dominant defensive effort. Strauss opened the run with seven straight, including a 3 that he splashed right in the face of a Storm defender. Foote, Wilgenbusch and Breitenbach finished off the run, combining for an 8-0 to give Coe its first lead of the game. The remaining 10 minutes featured seesawing action for both teams with the momentum swinging back and forth throughout. Nailor and Bryte dragged Coe over the line in the final five minutes, totaling 13 points along the way. Nailor hit the final go-ahead triple after a huge offensive rebound from Jackson Bowman, who found the senior on the left wing for the clutch jumper.
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