WAVERLY, Iowa - Wartburg men's basketball suffered an 82-84 overtime defeat to the hands of Coe College on Wednesday, Feb. 3 inside Levick Arena. The Knights were led by sophomore guard Jack Molstead who finished with a season-high 18 points and four rebounds. 

The Orange & Black (2-5. 0-3 A-R-C) will continue American Rivers Conference play when they travel to Indianola, Iowa for a matchup against Simpson College (1-4, 1-2 A-R-C) on Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. 

The Knights came out of the gate strong, shooting 57.1% from long range and 51.9% from the floor in the first half. Charles City, Iowa native Molstead got hot early when he converted on his opening three attempts and tallied eight points in the first five minutes. Each program went on mini-runs throughout the opening period as the game went back-and-forth. Senior guard Max Smith Drahos went a perfect 2-of-2 from the field in the first while fellow senior Ryan Stulken knocked in a pair of threes on a 66.6% clip. Molstead finished the half with 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting including a perfect 3-of-3 from 3-point land. 

Wartburg struggled to find the basket in the second half but still managed to push its lead to nine with 6:27 remaining before the Kohawks made a 9-0 rally to tie the contest with 4:41 to play. The Knights faced a one-point deficit with a minute left but forced back-to-back Coe turnovers and grabbed a two point advantage. Kohawks' guard Cael Schmitt forced overtime when he converted on a clutch jump shot with 21 seconds left to tie the game 71-71. The Knights shot 37% from the field in the second while Coe knocked down 42.4% of its shots. 

Coe quickly jumped out to a five point lead in the opening two minutes of overtime behind a 50% clip from the floor. The Knights managed to make it a one possession game with 13 seconds remaining but Schmitt and Ray Thrapp went a combined 5-of-6 from the charity stripe down the stretch to secure the victory for Coe. 

In addition to Molstead's team-high 18 points, Stulken (16), junior forward Davis Roquet (12) and senior guard Broden Coulter (6) all registered season-highs in scoring. Walford, Iowa native Stulken also added a season-high eight rebounds in the contest. The Knights finished the game 42.9% from the field, 42.9% from long range and 69.6% from the free-throw line. The contest ended with seven lead changes and six ties as Wartburg held the lead for 31 minutes. 

Defensively, Wartburg forced 12 turnovers on six steals and two blocks. The Orange & Black held Coe to 44.3% from the floor, 26.9% from beyond the arc and 75% from the charity stripe. 

Senior guard Jake Eilers led the Kohawks with a game-high 21 points while junior forward Jarad Kruse recorded a double-double with 15 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Schmitt and forward Jacob Robertson also reached double figures in scoring for Coe with 16 and 11 points, respectively.