(Peru, Neb.) – After trailing for the first 18 minutes of the game, the Evangel University Crusaders came back to lead at halftime over the visiting Peru State College Bobcats and went on to win 69-52.
The 11th-ranked Crusaders remained tied at the top of the Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) with a 7-2 conference mark. Overall, Evangel is now 14-5 for the season.
With the loss, PSC fell to 9-11 overall and 2-7 in the HAAC. After the first round of conference play, Peru State is tied for eighth with Avila University and Graceland University. Avila holds the tiebreaker with an earlier win over the 'Cats.
Game Action
Kody Kirkpatrick (Loami, Ill.) hit a three-pointer to put PSC on top to start the game. A two-pointer by Evangel was countered by a two-point bucket by
Nate Bohy (Mesa, Ariz.) to make it 5-2 Bobcats with 16:18 to go in the first half, as both teams were cool early.
Bohy then hit a three-pointer to extend PSC's lead to 8-2. The Bobcats' largest lead of the game was at the 13:55 mark when Kirkpatrick hit a field goal making it PSC 12-4.
Throughout the rest of the half, the teams traded buckets until late in the half when Evangel, after trailing 22-16, went on a 9-2 run to take the lead for good at 25-24 with 1:52 left in the opening 20 minutes. At halftime, the Crusaders led 30-26.
A three-pointer by
Peter Knudsen (Vanloese, Denmark) with 18:33 left in the second half, coming on an assist by Jake Schaben
(Defiance, Iowa) got PSC back within one at 32-31. However, that would be as close as PSC would get throughout the remainder of the game as the Crusaders slowly pulled away.
Team Statistics
The big difference in the game was that the Crusaders hit 52% of their field goal attempts making 26 of 50, including going five of 15 from behind the arc for 33.3%. Peru State managed to hit 35.3% of their field goals, canning 18 of 51, which included going four of 20 from three-point range for 20%. PSC did fare better from the free throw line making 12 of 16 for 75% while Evangel made 12 of 17 of 70.6%.
Evangel held the edge in rebounding 33-27 and had fewer turnovers than PSC 19 to 17.
Individual Statistics
Kirkpatrick and Bohy were the only Bobcats in double figures finishing with 19 and 10 respectively. Bohy added a team-high seven rebounds and dished out a team-high three assists.
EVANGEL BOX SCORE
Upcoming Games
The second round of the HAAC play begins for the Bobcats on the road on Thursday, Jan. 24, when they travel to Olathe, Kan., to take on the MidAmerica Nazarene University (MNU) Pioneers. The game is scheduled to being at 7:30 p.m. or approximately 25 minutes following the conclusion of the women's game. The 25
th-ranked Pioneers are tied at the top of the conference with Evangel with a 7-2 mark and are 15-6 overall. MNU lost a close one on Saturday at Culver-Stockton College 89-88. Earlier in the year, MNU pulled out a 75-72 victory over PSC.
In conjunction with the PSC Foundation's Annual Alumni Chili Feed, Saturday, Jan. 26, the 'Cats will host Central Methodist University (CMU) beginning at approximately 4 p.m. Earlier in the year, PSC lost at CMU 66-50 in the Bobcats' lowest-scoring output of the season. Currently, the Eagles are sitting in fifth in the HAAC with a 5-4 mark and are 12-9 overall. On Saturday, CMU lost at Baker University 58-45.
On Monday, Jan. 28, the Bobcats will be taking on the Utah Valley University Wolverines in Orem, Utah. The 9-11 Wolverines will be hosting Peru State in an exhibition game.
