Coe College issued the following announcement on Nov. 12.
The Coe College men's basketball team hung on for a 69-67 victory over Aurora University on Friday evening. The Kohawks led by double-digits at the half after shooting 48 percent from the floor but a strong second half from the Spartans forced Coe to hang on for the victory. The Kohawks were led by a trio of scorers as Jarad Kruse, Cael Schmitt and Ray Thrapp all eclipsed double-figures in the victory. Coe improves to 3-0 on the season while Aurora suffers its first defeat of the season, dropping to 1-1 overall.
COE 69 - AURORA 67
Game Facts
The Kohawks opened up an early lead in the first four minutes of the contest, scoring 11 of the game's first 12 points but the Spartans clawed their way back and got within four of the lead with 12:34 to play in the half. Coe responded to the Aurora run with nine-straight points as the lead quickly jumped past double-digits once again after contributions from Brady Klahn and Kruse.
The Spartans finally broke the scoreless stretch with 7:27 on a fast break jumper but the Kohawks continued to keep the opponent at arm's length as Kruse and Schmitt hit on back-to-back buckets to put Coe in front 32-14 with under five to play in the half. Aurora continued to fight over the final few minutes of the opening half, scoring 12 of the final 19 points of the half to cut the deficit to 13 after 20 minutes of play.
The teams traded blows to open the second half, but Aurora got the lead under double-digits with an old-fashioned three point play from Shamar Pumphrey who made the score 45-36. The back and forth action continued for much of the period but back-to-back-to-back long balls from the Spartans cut the deficit to just five with just over 11 minutes to play. The Kohawks settled into the half after the Aurora run, getting six-straight points to push the lead past double-digits as jumpers from Thrapp and Greg Hall helped give Coe cushion.
The Spartans continued to battle in the contest, chipping away at the lead to get within seven points with 7:47 to play after another three-point play from Justin Wilson. One possession later the Spartans made it a five-point contest with yet another three-point play as the Kohawk lead was cut to 61-56. Aurora drew even closer following an empty possession for Coe, hitting a long-range shot with 6:19 to play to make it 61-59. Coe managed to respond to the big run from Aurora, scoring six-straight points including a pair of free throws from Kruse and layup from Schmitt as the pair pushed the lead back to eight with 4:08 to play.
The game went scoreless for nearly two minutes of game time as the Spartans and Kohawks exchanged turnovers but two free throws and a three-point play for Aurora made it a one-possession game with under two minutes to play. The Kohawks had another empty possession, missing two 3s on the offensive end as the Spartans took advantage, getting a jumper inside the paint from Terreon Hopkins to make it a one-point game. Aurora then tied the score at 67 with 42 seconds left, hitting one of two from the charity stripe to set up the Kohawks with a chance on offense. Kruse, Coe's leading scorer, drew a foul with just 20 seconds left in the contest and calmly knocked down a pair to put Coe up two which proved enough as Aurora missed a potential game-winning 3 with two seconds to play.
Original source can be found here.
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