Kansas Wesleyan Men's Basketball opened its season on Saturday against the Northwestern College Red Raiders inside Mabee Arena.
The Raiders shot 52.5 percent from the field and held off a late rally by the Coyotes in a 77-67 decision.
Northwestern scored the first six points of the game until
Alec Grill scored the first points of the season for the Coyotes on free throws with 17:39 left in the first half.
A later free throw by
Jace Steinmetz got the Coyotes back within three, but Northwestern pushed the lead out to 28-12 with 8:26 to go in the first.
KWU got back within 12 at 39-27 with two minutes to go before the half but Northwestern would take a 41-27 lead into the half.
The Raiders extended their lead to 22 points at 59-37 with 13:46 left in the second half, but the Coyotes would rally after that.
KWU trailed 67-50 with 8:04 left in the game when the rally started for the Coyotes. Steinmetz hit a pair of free throws sparking an 11-0 run by the Coyotes to cut the difference to six points at 67-61 with 4:16 left on a steal and dunk by
Brandon Redic.
Northwestern pushed the lead back out to 10 at 73-63 as the Coyotes could get no closer than seven the rest of the way on
Kavon Phillips' 3-pointer with 1:52 left.
Phillips led the Coyotes with 17 points while Steinmetz had 13. KWU was 22 of 58 shooting for 37.9 percent and 10 of 31 from 3-point range for 32.3 percent. Phillips also led the Coyotes with eight rebounds.
KWU is back in action on Thursday, hosting Concordia (Neb.) at 7 p.m. inside Mabee Arena.
