KCAC

[Men's Basketball] Kansas Wesleyan Holds Off Men's Basketball Falcons, 69-64

WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes managed to come away with a 69-64 win over the Friends University Falcons in head coach Dale Faber's final regular season home game in the Garvey Center tonight (Feb. 17).The Falcons were forced to come from behind from the outset when a pair of threes by Gabe Mack opened the game and set the tone for the Coyotes to score 16 of the game's first 18 points.Threes from PJ Medrano (SR/San Antonio, Texas), Davonte Pack (SR/Sumter, SC) and Nick Rumbo (JR/Kansas City, Kan. ) aided an 11-2 burst and pulled the Falcons within 18-15 near the midway point of the first half.KWU scored eight straight points to extend the lead back to 11, only to have Pack score eight points of his own to fuel a 14-2 spurt to close out the opening stanza and give Friends its first lead of the night, 29-28 heading into the break.The Coyotes began the second half much like the first, outscoring the Falcons 13-4 through the first four minutes to go on top 41-33.That lead proved insurmountable, even though the Falcons scratched and clawed throughout the remainder of the second half.KWU twice pushed the lead as high as nine, but the Falcons refused to go quietly and cut the deficit to two on a pair of occasions, with the last occurrence coming on two free throws by Ian Konek (SO/Long Beach, Calif.) that made it 59-57 with 3:25 left.After four free throws pushed the Coyote edge back to six, the Falcons continued to hang around and made it a one possession game for the second time in the final 44 seconds when Pack drilled a three to trim the KWU lead to 67-64 with 11 seconds left.But two free throws by Easton Hunter on the other end finally put the game away for the Coyotes.Pack led the Falcons (6-15, 6-12 KCAC) with 28 points and also pulled down seven rebounds. TJ Williams (SR/Arlington, Texas) scored 11 and Ian Konek added 10 points along with a career-high and team-leading eight boards.Mack paced the Coyotes (9-13, 7-11 KCAC) with 16 points, while AJ Range and Trey Duffey each scored 11.The Falcons were outrebounded 41-30 overall, but managed to outscore the Coyotes 28-22 in the paint.Following a 35.7 percent (10-of-28) shooting clip from the field in the opening half, the Coyotes warmed up and hit 48 percent (12-of-25) of their shot attempts in the second half that allowed to take control and hold off the Falcons down the stretch.Friends will next wrap up the regular season at Sterling College Saturday evening (Feb. 20). Tip-off is set for 7 pm in Sterling, Kan.