McPHERSON – Kansas Wesleyan shot just 37.3 percent from the field for the game as the Coyotes dropped the first contest of 2020 to the McPherson Bulldogs 80-65 on Saturday night at the Sport Center.
Wesleyan fell behind 14-7 to start the game, but got back within four thanks to a 3-pointer by Andre Harris (SR/Sioux City, Iowa) with 13:44 left in the opening stanza. Dylan Hahn (FR/Yukon, Okla.) got the Coyotes within four again with 11:40 left in the half, but McPherson would push its lead out to 17 with 6:39 left in the half.
The Coyotes trailed by 21 at one point in the first half, 38-17, but were able to bounce back, cutting the difference to 15 at 40-25 on Peyton Hatter (SO/Andover, Kan.)’s bucket with 1:23 left, before heading into the half trailing 43-27.
Wesleyan won the second half, outscoring McPherson 38-37 in the period. A bucket from Hatter cut the difference to 10 with 15:19 to go, but the Bulldogs pushed the lead back out to 15 at 52-37 with 13:25 left.
That’s when the Coyotes made their charge to get back into it. A triple by Brayden White (JR/Topeka, Kan.) and another from Harris got things going for the Coyotes and a bucket by Daekwon Gross (JR/Kansas City, Mo.) cut the difference to seven at 52-45 with 11:04 left.
After the Bulldogs pushed the lead back out to 11, the Coyotes pressed again, on a 3-point play by Gross and a bucket by AJ Range (JR/Junction City, Kan.) to cut the difference to just six with 7:41 left in the game.
McPherson pushed its lead back out to 12 with 4:34 left and the Coyotes could get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
James Brooks (SR/Frontenac, Kan.) had 11 to lead the Coyotes, while Hatter added 10 and eight rebounds. KWU also got eight from Harris and seven from Gross. Range led the Coyotes on a 36-35 rebounding advantage with 11 boards. KWU was just 4-of-21 from 3-point range in the game (19 percent).
Travon Shelvin had 27 for McPherson, while Fred Watts had 17 and 11 rebounds.
The Coyotes are back in action on Wednesday, hosting No. 10 ranked Ottawa at Mabee Arena.
