After trailing 19-16 with seven minutes to go in the first half, the Peru State men's basketball team saw the visiting Ravens finish with a 19-4 taking a big advantage at halftime. While the Bobcats made a valiant effort in the second half, Peru State fell to Benedictine 80-70 on Thursday night.
For both teams, this was their first Heart of America Athletic Conference (HAAC) game so the Ravens improved to 8-1 overall and 1-0 in the HAAC. Peru State fell to 3-6 overall and 0-1 in the conference.
Game Action
The game was only tied once as Tokie Aromona
(Kansas City, Mo.) hit a bucket after grabbing an offensive rebound for Peru State at the 18:51 mark in the first half.
A 10-2 run by Benedictine put the Ravens up 12-4 with 12:55 remaining before
Nate Bohy (Mesa, Ariz.) hit a pair of free throws to stop the run. After a Raven bucket,
Jesse Jones (Edmond, Okla.) hit a trey on an assist from Bohy, after which Bohy made another pair of charity tosses to get Peru State within three at 14-11 with 11:13 left in the half.
Benedictine would score the next five points to lead 19-11 before
Kody Kirkpatrick (Loami, Ill.) hit a trey to cut it to 19-14.
Grant Leslie (Auburn) followed with a two-pointer and Peru State was again within three at 19-16 before Benedictine closed the half on their 19-4 run to lead 38-20 at halftime.
Early in the second half the teams traded buckets with the 'Cats getting the deficit cut to 12 as Bohy made one of two free throws, making it 48-36 after the first five minutes.
Over the next seven minutes, Benedictine would increase its lead to 21 at 68-47 with 7:44 left in the game. A three-pointer and a bucket by Kirkpatrick cut it to 68-52 with just under five minutes remaining.
Later, another three-pointer by Kirkpatrick would get the Bobcats back within single digits, trailing 72-65, but Benedictine would again stretch its lead back to 13 at 80-67. A late three-pointer by Connor Long
(Lincoln) on an assist from
Taylor Christensen (Phoenix) made the final score 80-70.
Team Statistics
Both teams shot the ball well as the Ravens hit 50% of their 56 attempts, including making 6 of 14 from three-point range for 42.9%. Benedictine also hit 18 of 25 free throws for 72%.
Peru State shot 45.3% from the floor, making 24 of 53 field goals, which included 7 of 19 from behind the arc for 36.8%. At the charity stripe, the 'Cats hit 15 of 23 for 65.2%.
Despite giving up some height, Peru State kept the rebounding margin close as the Bobcats grabbed 30 caroms, compared to Benedictine's 35. The Bobcats did commit 14 turnovers while the Ravens had ten.
Individual Statistics
Three Bobcats finished in double figures with Kirkpatrick leading the way with a game-high 25 points. Kirkpatrick made 8 of 12 field goals, including 5 of 8 from three-point range. Also, Kirkpatrick hit all four of his free throw attempts.
Christensen finished with 11 points while Bohy added ten.
Bohy led Peru State with eight rebounds while Aromona grabbed seven. Bohy and
Brett Pierce (St. Joseph, Mo.) each dished out three assists while Christensen blocked one shot.
BENEDICTINE BOX SCORE
Upcoming Games
Peru State will face Evangel University in HAAC play on Saturday at approximately 4 p.m. or approximately 30 minutes following the women's game. The Crusaders won their HAAC opener last night on the road over Avila University 94-67 and are currently 8-1 on the year.
The Bobcats will then take some time off during finals week and then will be back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 17, when they travel to Leavenworth, Kan., to face the Spires of the University of St. Mary. Game time is scheduled for 6 p.m. St. Mary topped Peru State 93-85 in Peru during the HAAC/KCAC Classic and is presently 5-3 on the season.
