CLINTON, Iowa - The Ashford University (9-5, 1-1 MCC) men's basketball team engaged Coe College (2-5, 0-2 IIAC) in a full-fledged track meet to come away with an exciting non-conference win, 90-80, on Wednesday evening in Kehl Arena.

The Saints ninth win of the year was just one point shy of tying their season-high scoring total (91 vs. Missouri Baptist) and featured a frenetic pace, plenty of transition buckets and several game-changing runs.

Ashford overcame 61 percent shooting by the Kohawks with stifling defense in an effective half-court trap to force 20 turnovers. Conversely, the Saints protected the ball well and had just nine giveaways, including only two in the second half.

Senior guard Daniel Joiner of West Chicago, Ill., led all players with 24 points and junior sharpshooter Devin Ehrich of Thomson, Ill., poured in 15 off the bench in 14 minutes.

Senior guard Byron Emerson of Rockford, Ill., and sophomore forward Matthias Burns of Chicago each had 12 points apiece. Burns led AU's effort on the glass with eight rebounds.

"I thought we were able to force a good amount of turnovers tonight and that feeds directly into our offense," AU Head Coach Eberhart said. "We didn't defend the three-point shot very well, but I was happy with the work of our post players on offense. They gave us a spark."

The Saints were down by just two at the half despite Coe converting on 7-of-9 three-point attempts, the exact figures in the first 20 minutes from AU's last game that resulted in a loss at Loras College.

But this time, they flipped the script, making necessary adjustments to quickly seize control in the final 20 minutes.

The Kohawks quietly slipped out to a nine-point advantage after two of Dan Borngraeber's team-high 21 were scored at the 7:14 mark.

Ashford played catchup for the final 15 minutes of the first half, but it went on an 8-0 run capped by a jumper by Emerson after a nice pump fake to whittle the lead down to one. Coe would stretch its advantage up to eight points on several occasions, but couldn't score within the final four minutes and AU wouldn't bend.

Junior guard Mike Relerford of Rockford, Ill., streaked up the court for one of his seven assists to find sophomore Peter Tanzillo of Kewanee, Ill., for a buzzer-beating layup before the half

Ashford tied the game on its first possession in the second half and a three-point play by Joiner gave the Saints their first lead since the 17:23 mark in the first half.

From there it was all Saints and Joiner gave AU a 12-point lead on a layup. The Kohawks would cut the lead to two after a pair of free throws by Alex Tatman to cap a 7-0 run, but AU countered with 6-0 run to throttle the Coe rally.

Joiner and Ehrich would come through at the charity stripe down the stretch, each hitting a pair of attempts with under a minute remaining.

The Saints travel north this weekend for a pair of back-to-back games against the University of Sioux Falls (4 p.m.) on Saturday and Dakota State University (2 p.m.) on Sunday.