Salina, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons stayed within striking distance much of the night, but the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes used a big run late to pull away for a 99-78 win in the KCAC opener tonight (Nov 15) in Salina, Kan.
Following a bucket by Kee'on Hutton that shaved a 10-point deficit down to 75-71 with 5:09 remaining, the Coyotes made their decisive surge behind Alex Littlejohn.
Littlejohn converted back-to-back three-point plays and then turned a steal into a layup to fuel an 11-0 spurt that gave KWU a 15-point lead with just 3:21 left.
The Coyotes continued to stretch the lead from that point to seal the win.
The opening half was tightly contested and featured eight lead changes, with neither team leading by more than six points and KWU holding a five-point lead of 44-39 at the break.
Friends came out strong to start the second half when Drew Patterson was fouled shooting from the perimeter and managed to hit all three throws followed by another score from Hutton to tie the score.
After the Coyotes scored the next four points to regain the lead, the Falcons twice charged back within one on a three by Patterson and a score in the paint from Tim Barbieri at the 17:03 mark of the second half.
But a three by Cory Kaplan again allowed the Coyotes to stave off the Falcons and a score by Jun Murdock expanded the KWU lead back to 10 at 71-61 with 9:33 left before Friends made its final push.
Patterson scored a team-high 22 points to lead the Falcons (1-3, 0-1 KCAC), representing the Charlotte, NC native's highest scoring output since the 2021-22 season. KJ Spiller finished with 13 points and three assists, with Collin Maclin chipping in with 11 points.
Littlejohn led everyone with a double-double of 27 points and 13 boards, followed by Murdock with 19 points. Kaplan added 16 points for the Coyotes (4-3, 1-0 KCAC).
Each team's performance from the field was fairly even, with the Coyotes shooting 52.9 percent (37-of-70) overall and the Falcons recording a 50.8 percent (31-of-61) clip from the field.
The action inside was also hotly contested, as the Coyotes held a 37-30 edge on the boards with a slim 46-44 edge in points in the paint. The Falcons outscored the Coyotes 11-10 in second chance points.
One key difference came at the charity stripe, where both teams shot 19 times. But KWU hit 17 of their attempts at the foul line and the Falcons managed to make only 11.
The Falcons will now open up the KCAC home portion of their schedule Saturday evening (Nov. 18) at 7 pm vs. McPherson College inside the Garvey Center.
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