Evangel, the top-seeded team in the tournament, joined the other three top seeds making it to the semifinals that will be played on Saturday.  With their win, the Crusaders improved to 23-6 overall and will face Central Methodist in the semis.
 
Peru State's season ended with a 12-18 final record.  The Bobcats were 8-8 at home, 3-9 away, and 1-1 in neutral court play.
 
Game Action
 
The Bobcats got on the board first with a three-pointer by Kody Kirkpatrick (Loami, Ill.) coming with 18:50 left in the first half.  Evangel countered with a three-pointer of their own.  Later Nate Bohy (Mesa, Ariz.) put Peru State back on top at 5-3, which again was countered by the Crusaders. 
 
Evangel would take their first lead at 7-5, but Derrick Williams (St. Joseph, Mo.) tied it at 7-7 on an assist from Kirkpatrick with 16:34 left in the half.  A Crusader three started a 10-0 run for Evangel, making it 17-7 before Williams fed Kirkpatrick, who hit a three to cut it to 17-10 with 12:51 remaining in the first stanza.  Another bucket by Williams got Peru State back within five at 17-12, but the Crusaders went on a 6-0 run to go up 23-12, forcing a Bobcat timeout with 10:31 left in the half.
 
Peru State would draw within four at 27-23 after Richard Oppitz (Topeka, Kan.) hit a bucket on an assist from Peter Knudsen (Vanloese, Denmark) with seven minutes left.  Another three by Kirkpatrick later made it 35-33 with 54 seconds left in the half before Evangel pulled away for a 40-33 halftime advantage.
 
At the start of the second half, Peru State dug themselves into a hole early as the Crusaders outscored the 'Cats 6-1 to lead by 12 at 46-34 with 16:13 left in the game.  However, the Bobcats would fight back and would tie the game at 52-52 as Kirkpatrick hit one of two technical foul shots and Jake Schaben (Defiance, Iowa) also made one of two foul shots, knotting the game.  
With 7:10 left in the game, Williams hit a field goal to put the Bobcats up 54-53.  Another Evangel basket was followed by a Kirkpatrick score with Peru State still leading at 56-55 at the 6:35 mark.
 
After a tie game at 57-57 with 3:55 left, Evangel scored four straight points to lead 61-57.  With 3:17 left, Williams was fouled and hit both free throws, cutting the deficit to two at 61-59.  Kirkpatrick would later hit one of two free throws to make it Evangel 61-60, but that would be as close as Peru State would get as Evangel kept getting five-point leads, forcing the 'Cats to come back from, but could not.
 
Team Statistics
 
Peru State outshot Evangel from the floor, making 25 of 53 attempts for 47.17%, which included hitting six of 21 from three-point range for 28.57%.  At the free throw line, the Bobcats were 12 of 18 for 66.67%.  The Crusaders made 23 of 54 field goals for 42.59%, but were better than PSC from behind the arc for 30.43%.  At the charity stripe, Evangel was 20 of 28 for 71.43%.
 
The Bobcats grabbed six more rebounds than Evangel, 35-29.  But, Peru State committed more turnovers on the night, 18, compared to the Crusaders' 11.
 
Individual Statistics
 
Four  Bobcats finished in double figures with Kirkpatrick leading the way with a game-high 26 points on nine of 18 shooting from the floor.  Williams added 18 points on seven of 11 shooting, including being a perfect four of four from the free throw line.  
 
Bohy added 11 points and dished out a team-high four assists, while also grabbing five rebounds.  Oppitz had a game-high 12 rebounds and scored ten points.

EVANGEL BOX SCORE
 
Season Ending Notes
 
Six Bobcat seniors played their final games of their Bobcat careers – Williams, Knudsen, Schaben, Oppitz, Andre Wells (Colorado Springs, Colo.), and Blake Steagall (Lake Tapawingo, Mo.).   Nine Bobcats will return and join the newcomers to look to improve in the 2013-14 season.