KANSAS CITY – Purdue Northwest dropped its second game of the GLVC/GLIAC Challenge with Saturday's 63-56 setback to Rockhurst inside the Mason-Halpin Field House. The Pride will seek their first win of the year when they host East-West University Tuesday night at H.D. Kesling Gymnasium at the Westville Campus.
 
HEAD COACH BOOMER ROBERTS:
"We played well enough defensively to win on the road, but for the second straight game we struggled to execute," head coach Boomer Roberts said. "It's hard to win close games if you can't generate enough clean looks. Rockhurst was the meaner team down the stretch, and they gained confidence from a couple big plays that were huge difference makers."
 
STAT LEADERS

• Jonte Coleman drilled seven 3-pointers to finish with a career-high 21 points
• Jyrus Freels and Caleb Zurliene reached double figures in scoring with 11 and 10 points, respectively
• Freels pulled down a team-high eight rebounds
• Coleman and Sangolay Njie each grabbed five boards
• Anthony Irvin produced a team-high four assists and two steals

How it happened: A pair of momentum shifts highlighted the first half of action as PNW (0-2) jumped out to a four-point lead when Coleman knocked down a pair of early treys.
 
Rockhurst would respond with a 10-0 run to grab the largest lead of the opening period, a six-point edge with the score 16-10 midway through the stanza.
 
Then, Coleman doused the flames with another 3-pointer and PNW would hold on for a one-point halftime advantage, 28-27. The Pride rode a 7-0 spurt late in the half as Coleman had 12 points at the break.
 
Freels got the Pride going in the second half with a pair of early buckets, including a three-point play to set the tone. Coleman stayed hot from beyond the arc and knocked down two more treys to give PNW its largest lead of the game, 41-32 near the 15-minute mark.
 
However, Rockhurst countered with back-to-back threes to limit the damage and the Hawks clawed back into it.
 
PNW's scoring drought that lasted over five minutes proved to be the difference midway through the second half. The Pride saw a five-point lead change to a six-point deficit following an 11-0 run from Rockhurst with seven minutes remaining.
 
Kai Steinman's driving layup cut the deficit to two at the 6:24 mark, but that was as close as the Pride could get the rest of the way.
 
Rockhurst (3-1) was paced by Nick Volz with 18 points and Jake Auer added 15.

Both teams shot 37% overall from the field and under 30% from three-point range. RU held the edge on the glass, 41-38.
 
UP NEXT
PNW will gear up for a home game at each campus next week. The Pride host East-West University on Tuesday night in Westville, before returning to the Hammond Campus for Thursday night's Region clash against Indiana Northwest. Both games are set for tipoff at 7 p.m. CST and will air live on JEDtv.com.