Basketball team’s complete sweep of Bethany

By Beau Grant / Co-Sports Editor

The Kansas Wesleyan University Men and Women’s basketball team picked up victories over rival Bethany.

First, the women’s game was the closer one with the Coyotes squeaking out the win 71-66. The Yotes have played a hard non-conference schedule up to this point and came in with 4-5 record, with the Swedes having the same record.

The Coyotes played good basketball in the first half and went into the break leading 33-28. Bethany took control however in the 3^rd and got ahead by as many as 10 points.

But the Coyotes put together a 10-0 at the end of the quarter going into the 4^th tied. The 4^th quarter was an entertaining one, to say the least, with both teams trading baskets and the lead until with 5 minutes the Coyotes made a layup and led 60-59.

The Coyotes blocked a potential game-winning shot from Bethany with under 30 seconds left, they grabbed the rebound and made some crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“We made winning plays and that was the difference,” said Ryan Showman, women’s basketball head coach.

The Coyotes were led in scoring by No. 10 LaMyah Ricks who had 15, freshman standout No. 1 Daijane Adams was right behind her with 14. The Coyotes will play two more games before the break, going on the road to Ottawa and hosting Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

The men’s game followed the Women’s and they put on another action-packed game. The first half saw a lot of good basketball from both teams, and it was tied with 5 minutes left. The Coyotes would jump out to a five-point lead until Bethany made a buzzer-beating three-pointer to get the lead to 2 going into the break.

The Coyotes came out hot in the second half and Bethany never saw the lead after sharpshooter Easton Hunter made a three-pointer to put the Coyotes up 42-39 with 19 minutes left in the game.

The Coyotes played very well for the rest of the game and saw their biggest lead come with under two lefts in the game when they led 71-55.

Coach Monson credited the team’s defense, “We did a better job in the second half of guarding people and held them to 27 points.” The final score of the game was 73-59.

The leading scorer for the Coyotes was Alex Littlejohn who posted a double-double scoring 20 points and snagging 11 rebounds. Jun Murdock had 14, Iziah Hale provided 10 points, and Cory Kaplan had 9. The Coyotes shot 48% from the field and 35% from three.

The men’s team will also be traveling to Ottawa on Wednesday and will host Saint Mary’s on Saturday.

A link to watch the replays of both games can be found here: Kansas Wesleyan University on the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Network (kcacnetwork.com)