Coe junior Jake Timm was not thrilled with the way he played in the first half against Clarke Saturday afternoon at Eby Fieldhouse.

Neither was Coach Bryan Martin.

"He kind of got on me about my crappy defense," Timm said. "He told me to take my head out of my butt and get playing."

Timm scored all of his team-high 14 points in the second half and collected 11 assists as the Kohawks held off the Crusaders, 85-78, in an entertaining non-conference affair.

David Neis poured in 45 points for Clarke, but five Kohawks scored in double figures to overcome a sensational performance by the 5-foot-11 junior from Benton, Wis.

"That Neis kid is a stud," said Timm. "He came at us and took it strong to the hole every time. Fortunately we had an answer for him.

"We made some plays down the stretch and made some shots when we needed to."

Timm collected six assists in the first half, but ran into foul problems and did not score in the opening 20 minutes.

"We challenged him at halftime," said Martin. "This rarely happens with him, but he made a couple of mistakes defensively and got back-doored twice and picked up a double of silly fouls reaching in when it wasn't even his guy. So we had to put him on the bench."

Timm played only nine minutes in the first half and did not attempt a shot, but he played all 20 minutes in the second half and finished with his second straight double-double.

"We didn't take him off the floor in the second half," Martin noted. "He did a great job and hit some big-time shots. Anytime you get a double-double at this level, that's a heck of a game. Jake's our leader and he really stepped up big for us in the second half."

Timm, a 6-foot-1 junior from Mount Vernon, shot 5-foot-7 from the field in the second half and nailed three triples. He made a big three-point play with 2:13 remaining when he drove to the basket, got fouled and kissed the ball off the glass for a 79-71 lead.

JT Vandeerhaar scored 13 points for the Kohawks (3-1). Christian Fahey, Matt Vonderhaar and Max Schmarzo all finished with 12 markers.

Neis was nearly unstoppable for Clarke (2-7). He scored 15 points in 15 minutes in the first half, then poured in 30 points in 20 minutes in the second stanza with uncanny marksmanship, quick drives and excellent foul shooting.

Neis shot 13-for-18 from the field, went 6-for-7 on 3-pointers and hit 13-of-16 free throws. It was one of the top performances by a visiting player in the 85-year history of Eby Fieldhouse, but there are no records for most points by an opponent.

"I think our experience helped us win that game down the stretch," said Martin. "They (the Crusaders) did a great job on the shoulders of Neis having a huge game."

Neis pulled Clarke within 72-71 with two free throws with 4:34 remaining. Matt Vonderhaar made two fouls shots for Coe, JT Vonderhaar made a strong move for a bucket and Timm followed with his three-point play to finish a 7-0 run and give the Kohawks some breathing room at 79-71.

"I was proud of our guys for keeping their composure. The whole game we had an answer for them offensively on our end," said Martin. "We were just fortunate the last four minutes to get enough stops and rebounds to get a little separation and win the game."

Martin used 14 players. Clarke had only nine players in uniform due to injuries and used them all. The Kohawks whipped the Crusaders in bench points, 28-10. Schmarzo scored his 12 points off the bench by canning four clutch 3-pointers.

"We are a deep team and we have a lot of guys we can call on," said Martin. "We thought our depth was superior to theirs. It's about 40 minutes, and I think we did wear them down a little bit.

"I like our balance right now offensively," he said. "That makes us hard to prepare for and hard to guard. We're not leaning on just one guy. We're moving the ball."

CLARKE (78): Winkler 4 4-4 15, Havens 1 2-2 4, Thompson 1 2-2 4, Neis 13 13-16 45, Durr 0 0-0 0, Walker 2 2-3 6, Miller 0 0-0 0, Thompson 2 0-2 4, Francis 0 0-0 0. Totals 23 23-29 78.

COE (85): Daoust 3 0-0 6, JT Vonderhaar 5 1-3 13, Fahey 6 0-2 12, Timm 5 1-1 14, M Vonderhaar 3 4-4 12, Pyritz 0 2-2 2, Ditch 0 0-0 0, Meyer 2 2-2 6, Wadsworth 0 0-0 0, Vorba 1 0-0 3, Shedeck 0 0-0 0, Bernhard 0 0-2 0, Stix 2 1-2 5, Schmarzo 4 0-0 12. Totals 31 11-18 85.

Halftime - Coe 40, Clarke 33. 3-point goals - Clarke 9 (Neis 6, Winkler 3), Coe 12 (Schmarzo 4, Timm 3, JT Vonderhaar 2, M Vonderhaar 2, Vorba 1).

Fouled out - Thompson.