(Peru, Neb.) – After being down by as many as 12 late in the first half, the Peru State men's basketball team rallied behind strong defense for a win at home on Wednesday. The Bobcats ended up on top of the Graceland University (Iowa) Yellowjackets 81-70 at the final buzzer. 
 
Now on a three-game winning streak, Peru State improved to 5-5 overall and 2-1 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.  The Yellowjackets dropped to 7-4 overall and also 2-1 now in the Heart. 

 
First Half Action
 
The Bobcats scored the first points of the game, but not until the 18:17 mark, on a three-pointer by Corday Sims (Chicago) off of an assist from Darwin Ellis (Brooklyn, N.Y.).  Graceland would go on a 9-0 run before Jeff Neverson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) would score the next Peru State bucket with a put back on an offensive rebound to make it 9-5. 
 
Over the next eight minutes, Graceland began to pull away as Peru State had gone cold.  The Yellowjackets led 31-19 at the six minute mark before another trey by Sims, this time on an assist from Quantice Hunter (Chicago) to cut the deficit back to nine.  The 'Cats had the deficit cut all the way to one after a basket by Riak Bol (Omaha) off of an Ellis assist. 

 
Graceland would finish the last three minutes of the half on an 8-5 run to lead 41-37 at the half.
 
Second Half Action
 
The opening bucket of the second half was a trey by Hunter that was assisted by Neverson, but Graceland answered with a three of their own as well as another bucket the following possession.  Neverson created a run of his own for the Bobcats scoring the next six points of the contest to tie the game at 46 with 16:41 left in the game.
 
From that point on, Peru State never looked back for the remainder of the contest.  Back-to-back three-pointers from Jamar Cannon (Inglewood, Calif.) and Ellis gave the Bobcats their biggest lead of the game at 15. 
 
Graceland now trailed 72-57 and the closest the Yellowjackets got was back to eight, but two consecutive buckets from Kris Frazier (Cleveland) pushed the Peru lead back to 12 at the 4:28 mark.  Both teams traded buckets the final four minutes to close out the game at an 11-point difference. 

GRACELAND GAMEBOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
The Bobcats' shooting numbers definitely improved after a somewhat cold first half as they shot 46.7% on 28 of 60 attempts but included making 50% from behind the arc going 11 for 22.  Graceland was 26 of 63 from the field for 41.3%.  At the free throw line, Peru State was just 14 of 23 for 60.9% as Graceland shot 14 of 16 for 87.5%.  The rebounds were nearly even throughout the game as the Bobcats had 35 to Graceland's 34.  Graceland did finish the game with more turnovers as well with 15 as Peru State finished with 11, seven of them in the first half.

  
Individual Statistics
 
Sims led all scorers with 23 points going 6 of 13 from the field including 5 of 10 from three-point range.  He also went a perfect 6 of 6 from the charity stripe.  Three other Bobcats finished in double digits with Hunter adding 17, Frazier adding 14, and Neverson with 10.  
 
Hunter and Frazier each led the team with seven rebounds apiece, Sims and Neverson both grabbing six.  Ellis led the Bobcats with five assists and Frazier had a season high in blocks with five.
 
Upcoming Games
 
The Bobcats will be traveling to Oskaloosa, Iowa, Saturday night to take on William Penn for their fourth conference game.  Currently, William Penn is the only team in the Heart without a conference loss at 3-0 and 9-1 overall.  They recently defeated Grand View Wednesday night for their ninth straight victory. 
 
Peru State will then travel to Canton, Mo., the following Saturday to play their fifth game in the Heart against Culver-Stockton College.  C-SC is currently 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the Heart.  They lost their most recent game against Central Methodist 90-84. 
 
The Bobcats are then off for the rest of the calendar year as their following contest is not until Wednesday, January 6^, when they will travel to Olathe, Kan., to take on Mid-America Nazarene.