(Peru, Neb.) – The Peru State College (PSC) Bobcat men's basketball team kept it close for the first half, but the Benedictine College (BC) Ravens ended up pulling away in the second half grabbing a 76-61 win. 
 
BC's win came in a Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) matchup, which saw the Ravens improve to 9-7 overall and to 4-1 in the HAAC.  Benedictine is presently third in the HAAC, just one-half of a game back behind Evangel and MidAmerica Nazarene.  The Bobcats are still looking for their first HAAC win and are on the bottom of the conference standings at 0-6.  Overall, PSC is 1-17.
 
Game Action
 
The Bobcats took a 5-0 lead as Kevin Tighe (North Platte) drained a three-pointer on an assist from Peter Knudsen (Vanloese, Denmark) which was followed by a field goal by Patrick Riley (Kansas City, Mo.) on another dish by Knudsen.
 
Benedictine stormed right back with a 7-0 run going on top 7-5 with 16:07 left before Riley knotted the game at 7-7.   A bucket by Andre Wells (Colorado Springs, Colo.) on the assist by Derrick Williams (St. Joseph, Mo.) put PSC back up 9-7 before BC tied it at 9-9.  Another assist by Knudsen to Connor Smith (Lincoln) led to a Smith three-pointer putting Peru State up 12-9.
 
The Ravens would respond with a 10-0 run putting BC back on top at 19-12 with 10:55 left in the half.  Peru State responded with an 11-0 run of their own giving them their second-largest lead of the game at 23-19 at the 7:34 mark in the first stanza.  Williams scored seven of the points in the PSC run.
 
A 12-0 run by BC gave them the lead for good as they jumped on top 31-23 before PSC could stop the run.  PSC did manage to cut into the lead at halftime with a 7-2 run of their own and found themselves trailing only 33-30.
 
The Bobcats would never get any closer in the second half.  Benedictine slowly stretched their lead to 18 at 69-51 with just under five minutes left in the game and eventually settled for the 15-point win.
 Team Statistics
 
Both teams shot the ball fairly well from the field as BC finished hitting over 50% of their field goal attempts as they made 30 of 59 for 50.8%.  Peru State made 23 of 52 for 44.2%.  From behind the arc, both teams made 44.4% of their tries.  BC made eight of 18 while PSC was four of nine.  Peru State was outshot from the free throw line as the Ravens made eight of 12 for 66.7% while the 'Cats hit 11 of 18 for 61.1%.
 
Peru State had the edge in rebounding grabbing 31 boards compared to BC's 29.  However, the Bobcats committed more turnovers than BC as PSC had 23 while the Ravens made 17 miscues.

GAME BOX SCORE
 
Individual Statistics
 
Two Bobcats finished in double figures.  Williams had 16 points while Riley finished with 11.  Williams was also the team's leading rebounder with eight and added three assists and one blocked shot.  Riley contributed three rebounds and two assists.  Knudsen finished with eight assists and three boards.
 
Upcoming Games
 
The Bobcats will continue with more HAAC competition over the next several weeks.  On Saturday, Jan. 21, Peru State hosts the Avila University Eagles.    Game time will be approximately 4 p.m. or 20 minutes following the women's game which begins at 2 p.m.
 
Next Thursday, PSC will face the Graceland University YellowJackets in Lamoni, Iowa, at approximately 7:30 p.m.  Then, on Saturday, the Bobcats host Evangel University at approximately 4 p.m.
 
All Bobcat games can be heard live on KNCY 103.1 Country Radio.  Bobcat fans can now listen to Bobcat basketball on their mobile devices by clicking on the Live Audio link on either the women or men's schedules at pscbobcats.com.  This is not an app, but rather a link through the internet.  In addition, all home games are now available via Livestream that can be accessed by linking to the Live Audio button on the same schedule.