Coyote men runaway late to defeat Oral Roberts

The Coyote men took on Oral Roberts as the second part of a Sandford Coyote Sports Center doubleheader on Saturday.

Center Tyler Flack was honored before the game as the only senior on the team playing in the last home game of the season.

Coming into the game, Oral Roberts was the only team in the Summit League that the Coyotes had not yet beaten this season.

Shortly after the second half started, the Golden Eagles cut the Coyotes’ lead down to just four points.

After a run lead by sophomore guard Matt Mooney, the Coyotes maintained their lead to win the game 86-72.

Mooney had just one point going into halftime, but finished with 13 points on the afternoon, along with six rebounds.

There were five USD players that scored double digits while also posting 43 total bench points.

Freshman guards Tyler Peterson and Triston Simpson lead the way for the Coyotes with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Flack was held to just 12 points and three rebounds on his senior night.

For the Golden Eagles, the scoring effort was lead by freshman forward Emmanuel Nzekwesi and junior center Albert Owens, with 17 points each.

Peterson said that it was great to see the all-around effort that the team gave to get the win.

“I think we played aggressive and everyone had a big part in this game in scoring, rebounding, everything,” he said. “It was a team effort for sure.”

Head coach Craig Smith said the rebounding was a huge focus for them coming in to the game, and they stepped up.

“Rebounding was a major key for us today. We spent a lot of time looking at the film of how they rebounded against us the last time we played them,” Smith said. “They just responded. I know I can coach them hard and they will respond. It’s what good players do.”

The Coyotes maintain their position atop the Summit League standings with the win and will close out the regular season with games on the road against Western Illinois on Thursday and against IUPUI on Saturday.