CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Coe College and Central exchanged the lead 15 times on Wednesday night, but it was Coe that came out on top with a 57-50 win in Iowa Conference play.  Coe remained in third in the league standings, handing the Dutch their fifth-straight league loss.

The two teams exchanged baskets during the first 10 minutes of the game before Central went on an 8-0 run with 9:20 left in the opening half, taking a 17-10 lead with 5:07 to play in the half.  The Kohawks responded by closing the first half on a 10-2 run in the final 4:41.  Outside of a 3-pointer by sophomore Andrew Wirth (Cedar Falls, Iowa/Cedar Falls) with 3:44 remaining in the half, all of Coe's points in the run came from the free throw line.  A pair of free throws from junior Garrett Cross (Spring Grove, Minn./Spring Grove) with :10 left in the half gave Coe a 20-19 lead at the break.

Coe opened the second half on a 6-2 run in the first 3:15, taking their largest lead of the game at the time 26-21 with 16:36 to play.  The Dutch responded with a 9-2 run in the next 2:44, regaining the lead for the first time since the 2:21 mark of the first half.  A tip-in by sophomore Conor Bernhard (Byron, Ill./Byron) started a 7-0 Kohawk run, as they took a 35-30 lead with 9:32 to play.

Central wouldn't go away easy, as a Demarco Turner jumper in the paint ignited a 10-2 Dutch run in the next 2:19.  Coe trailed 40-37 with 6:37 to play when junior David Mataloni (Urbandale, Iowa/Urbandale) hit a jumper to start a 14-3 run by the Kohawks in the next 4:55.  During the run, Coe got five-straight points from senior Jake Raney (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) and a 3-pointer from Cross.  With 1:04 to play, Central scored five-straight points from the free throw line, cutting the lead to three with :41 to play.  Coe it eight free throws in the final 1:20 of the game to seal the victory.

Cross led the Kohawks with a game-high 11 points.  Junior Seth Light (Carlisle, Iowa/Carlisle) and Mataloni added nine points apiece, while Wirth had eight.  Raney chipped in seven.  With five points, senior Kevin Gaster (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Jefferson) went over 600 points for his career.  Chris Lehmann led the Dutch with 11 points.

Cross also had a career-high six rebounds to lead the Kohawks, while Mataloni added five.  Gaster had two assists, with Mataloni having four steals.

The Kohawks shot 90.5 percent (19-of-21) from the free throw line.  Coe held the Dutch without a field goal in the final 4:32, but hit its last field goal with 2:31 remaining.  After shooting 20.8 percent in the first half, Coe rebounded to shot 42.3 percent in the second half.

Coe returns to action on Saturday, as they host Dubuque.  Due to the Iowa Conference wrestling duals, tipoff has been moved to 7 p.m. at Eby Fieldhouse.  In the earlier meeting between the two schools, Dubuque beat Coe 70-58 on Dec. 3 in Dubuque.  The Spartans are currently 8-2 in Iowa Conference play, one game ahead of the Kohawks at 7-3.