Eagles Fall to #13 Coyotes in Salina

SALINA, Kan. – Facing one of the top teams in the conference, Avila men's basketball could not overcome a slow offensive performance, and #13 Kansas Wesleyan (20-2, 14-2 KCAC) did just enough offensively to take down the Eagles (5-17, 4-13 KCAC) 62-45 in Salina on Saturday night.

In reality it was not a good shooting night for either team. The Coyotes shot just over 35% from the field and made only five three-pointers, but that was still clinical enough to outpace the Eagles. Avila did extremely well in all of the secondary stats against Kansas Wesleyan – the Coyotes led in most but not by much, indicating that Avila played much better than the final margin would indicate.

But when it came down to it, the Eagles simply could not generate enough offense to keep pace with Coyotes as the game went along. It was Avila that got off to a hot start, scoring six straight off free throws from Donte' Simpson and Jonathan Cosby followed by a steal and score from Eric Smith Jr., putting the Eagles in front 6-2 and forcing a Kansas Wesleyan timeout just over five minutes into the game.

But the Coyotes countered that by scoring seven in a row out of the break to take the lead, forcing Avila to call a timeout at the 12:30 mark. Brandon Johnson, Josh Kilpatrick and Simpson all scored to keep the Eagles on pace with about five minutes to play in the first half, but then Kansas Wesleyan put together a big run to close out the half, highlighted by back to back threes from Cory Kaplan, helping the Coyotes to a 33-19 lead at the break.

Smith nailed a three to start off the second half and Tyree King shortly followed with one of his own, pulling the Eagles to within 35-25, but they would get no closer. Avila didn't hit another three until Jaylin Dinkins sank one with less than three minutes left, and by then it was already too late. Kansas Wesleyan kept Avila at arm's length in the second half and pulled away for a 62-45 victory.

Kaplan tied for the game high with 14 points, while Alex Littlejohn continued his emergent season with 14 points and 16 rebounds. Simpson paced the Eagles with 12 points along with eight rebounds, while Smith chipped in nine points and nine boards.

Up next, Avila men's basketball will get a bit of a break with their second half KCAC bye before competition resumes next Saturday, February 4 with a road contest against Oklahoma Wesleyan. The women's contest begins at 2 PM with the men to follow at 4; as always, you can watch all the action on the KCAC Network.