(Peru, Neb.) – After falling behind early in the game, the Peru State College (PSC) Bobcat men's basketball team did eventually make a game of it. However, it was not enough as the Central Methodist University (CMU) Eagles defeated PSC 63-54 in action Saturday afternoon in Peru.
With the win, the Eagles improved to 4-5 overall and evened their mark at 1-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC). Peru State falls to 0-2 in the HAAC and 1-11 overall.
First Half Action
The start of the first half looked dismal for Bobcat fans as the Eagles jumped to an 11-0 lead before PSC got two from Blake Steagall
(Lake Tapawingo, Mo.) as he grabbed an offensive rebound and stuck it back in. CMU stretched the lead to as many as 21 at 28-7 late in the first half before PSC made a run. The Bobcats had a 15-3 effort to close out the half to make it 30-22 Central Methodist.
CMU outshot the Bobcats in the first half connecting on nine of 25 from the floor for 36%. The Eagles actually shot better from behind the arc making four of 11 for 36.4%. At the free throw line, CMU made eight of 12 attempts for 66.7%. PSC shot 30.8% from the field making eight of 26 tries. Normally, a good three-point shooting team, PSC managed to hit only one three-pointer in the first half out of 11 attempts for 9.1%. The Cats did manage to outshoot CMU from the line making five of seven for 71.4%.
The Eagles grabbed eight more boards than PSC 30-22. PSC committed 11 turnovers while CMU had eight. Each team blocked one shot in the first 20 minutes.
Second Half Action
The second half was back and forth with PSC cutting it to 46-41 with 10:21 remaining in the game on a jumper by Eric Donald
(Omaha). Following a CMU foul with 8:45 left, Patrick Riley
(Kansas City, Mo.) made a free throw making it a four-point deficit at 46-42.
CMU came back with a bucket putting them up by six with just over eight minutes left in the game at 48-42. Following a PSC miss, Jacob Schaben
(Defiance, Iowa) grabbed the rebound, put it back up, and was fouled. Schaben made the second of two attempts making it 48-43.
Following a CMU miss, the 'Cats took it down the floor and Riley put back his offensive rebound to cut it to the smallest deficit of the game at 48-46. CMU came storming back and hit a three with 6:17 left to put it back to a six-point lead at 51-45.
After a CMU turnover, PSC brought it down the court and Riley drove to the bucket making it 51-47 at the 5:47 mark. A steal by Kevin Tighe
(North Platte) led to another Riley bucket making it 51-49, but the Eagles countered with a bucket of their own to go back up by four.
On the ensuing CMU play, Tighe grabbed a rebound and PSC took it down the court with Schaben dunking it to cut it to two, 53-51 with 3:24 to go. CMU came back with a three-pointer putting the Eagles back up 56-51 with 2:43 left. After a two-pointer by CMU, Donald put in a three with 51.4 seconds left cutting it to four, 58-54.
On the inbound pass, PSC fouled and CMU made the first of one and one to put the Eagles up 59-54. A three-point try by the 'Cats was off and the Eagles grabbed the rebound. Taking it down the court, CMU hit both free throws to stretch its lead to seven at 61-54 with 25 ticks left on the clock. That would be as close as the 'Cats would get it as CMU eventually won 63-54.
Game Statistics
Both teams shot slightly better in the second half. CMU finished the game at 44.2% making 19 of 43 from the floor. Shooting from the three-point range, the Eagles were hot making nine of 21 for 42.9%. At the charity stripe, Central Methodist hit 16 of 24 for 66.7%.
PSC's shooting did improve as well as they finished the game hitting 32.8% from the floor making 21 of 59 tries. The 'Cats did continue to struggle from the three-point range making only three of 20 for 15%. PSC's free throw shooting did go down slightly in the second half as they finished nine of 15 for 60%.
The biggest change in the second half came in the rebounding statistics as PSC controlled the boards in the second half. The Bobcats finished with 37 rebounds compared to 32 for CMU.
Game Box Score
Individual Statistics
Three 'Cats finished in double figures with Riley and Donald each scoring 11 points. Richard Oppitz
(Topeka, Kan.) finished with ten. Riley added six rebounds, one steal, and one assist. Donald had four assists and three steals while Oppitz added four rebounds. Schaben finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
KNCY Player of the Game – Patrick Riley
Riley was selected as the KNCY Player of the Game for his efforts against the Eagles. Riley said, “It was a tough game, but we knew it would be. The refs let us play tonight, but it will be tough like this in the HAAC all the time.” Asked about the tough play inside, Riley added, “The tough inside play works to our advantage as we work on this every day in practice. We pound each other so when it happens in a game, we are ready for it.” In conclusion, Riley finished, “The start of game, we were very sluggish and we were on our heels. We knew we were better than that and we knew we just had to pick it up.”
Coach Katen Comments
Bobcat head coach Troy Katen was disappointed, but pleased with the better effort of the team. Katen said, “It was a heckuva basketball game, but it didn't go our way, but we overcame the adversity. The slow start caught us in the end. We got into some early foul trouble, but we overcame that as well. It shows our guys' heart as we came back to cut it to eight at halftime. It is hard to dig out of a big hole, but we did keep it close at the end.” When discussing the three pointers hit by CMU in the second half, Katen continued, “It is a credit to Coach Sherman as they did get a couple of good threes from the corner, that we were not ready for.” Talking about the upcoming game, Katen finished, “We have some time off, so we will rest up, and then come back and lace them up next week. Culver has a new coach; they do many of the same things we do. We just need to make sure we build on this and get ready. We're headed in the right direction. We need to dictate what Culver does right away.”
Upcoming Games
It will be a week off before the Bobcats take the floor again. On Saturday, Dec. 10, Peru State will travel to Canton, Mo., to take on the Wildcats in a game that will follow the women's game scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. All Bobcat HAAC games will be broadcast on the KNCY radio broadcast network. Fans can catch the game by linking to the Live Audio on the men's basketball schedule.
