WICHITA – A big first half by the Friends University Falcons propelled the hosts to an 88-65 win over the Kansas Wesleyan Coyotes on Saturday at the Garvey Center.
 
Friends outscored the Coyotes 42-26 in the first half.
 
KWU fell behind 8-2 to start the game, but got back into it drawing within two points at 10-8 on a bucket by Izaiah Hale with 14:44 left. Friends answered right back with a 6-0 run that made it 19-8 in favor of the Falcons with 12:49 left.
 
Friends led by 11 when the Coyotes made a run, getting within six on Easton Hunter's 3-pointer with 9 minutes left in the half, but the Falcons pushed the lead back out to 16 to close the half.
 
Alex Littlejohn scored with 11:45 left in the game to cut the Friends lead back to single digits at 53-44, but that was as close as the Coyotes got the rest of the night.
 
A 14-3 run by Friends pushed the lead out to 20 points with 7:55 left.
 
Littlejohn led the Coyotes with 19 points and nine rebounds. KWU was 25 of 55 shooting for 45.5 percent, but connected on just 7 of 25 3-pointers for 28 percent.
 
KWU will return home for a game against York on Wednesday before heading to Saint Mary on Saturday. KWU then heads to Hawaii to play a pair of exhibition games on December 18 and 21.