INDIANOLA, Iowa - Coe College jumped out to an early lead for the first time in three games, as they cruised by Simpson 79-65 Monday night.  The Kohawks never trailed in the game after scoring in the first :14.

Simpson tied the game twice in the first 3:28, but an old-fashioned 3-point play from senior Seth Light (Carlisle, Iowa/Carlisle) sparked a 13-6 run for the Kohawks in 2:17, as they took an 18-11 lead with 13:50 to play.  Simpson's Chris Zimmer man hit a 3-pointer with 13:33 to play in the first half, cutting Coe's lead to four.  Just :20 later, sophomore Max Schmarzo (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) hit a 3-pointer, as Coe went on a 22-8 run in the next 10:56, taking a 40-22 lead with 2:17 left in the half.  Coe went into the locker rooms at the break with a 42-26 lead.

The Storm cut the lead to 10 with six-straight points to start the second half.  Coe was able to get the lead back to 13 points with 15:21 to play, but a 3-point play from Olu Rotibi made it a 10 point game again with 15:06 remaining.  The Kohawks put the game away at that point, scoring the next 10 points to start a 20-6 run in the next 5:27.  Freshman Christian Fahey (Waukon, Iowa/Waukon) hit a layup before Schmarzo nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to start the run.  A 3-pointer by junior Andrew Wirth (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) gave Coe a 72-51 lead with 7:28 to play, but the Storm made one last run at the Kohawks.  In the next 6:05, Simpson went on a 14-5 run, cutting the Kohawk lead to 77-65 before sophomore Tyler Dawson (Crystal Lake, Ill./South) hit a layup with :20 to play.

Schmarzo and Light led the Kohawks with 21 and 20 points respectively, a career-high for Schmarzo.  Light became the 30th player in school history to score 800 points.  Wirth added 12 points, while sophomore JT Vonderhaar (Bettendorf, Iowa/Assumption) had 11 points.  Light and Vonderhaar had a team-high eight rebounds apiece.  Wirth had a game-high seven assists.

Coe shot 51.7 percent (31-of-60) from the field, while the Storm were 26-of-61 (42.6%).  Coe was 8-of-19 from 3-point range, including Schmarzo's 5-of-9 from downtown.  The Storm were 5-of-13 from 3-point range.  Coe was 9-of-12 (75%) from the free throw line, while Simpson was 8-of-13 (61.5%) from the charity stripe.

The Kohawks (10-7, 3-3 IIAC) will host Buena Vista (12-5, 4-2 IIAC) on Wednesday at Eby Fieldhouse.  The Beavers earned an 84-80 victory at Central on Monday night.  Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.  A link for live stats and live video can be found on the front page of CoeAthletics.com.