(Peru, Neb.) – The Peru State men's basketball team won their tenth Heart of America Athletic Conference game of the season over the visiting Baker University Wildcats 82-70 on Thursday night. The ten wins in conference competitions are the most in at least 11 years for the Bobcats.
Peru State is now 17-11 on the season and 10-7 in the Heart. Baker fell to 9-18 and 3-14 in conference play.
Game Action 
Phillip Jackson stuffs two of his ten pointsThe Wildcats were on the scoreboard first with a pair of free throws before
Corday Sims (Chicago) tied the game with a field goal coming off an assist from
Phillip Jackson (Chicago). After a tie again at 4-4, Baker maintained the early lead until the 9:53 mark when Jackson hit a field goal to make it 16-15 Peru State.
The game was tied again at 19-19 at the 8:46 point in the first half, but a pair of
David Plain (Chicago) free throws gave the Bobcats the lead for good. Peru State would score the next nine points with a basket by Jackson, on an assist from Plain to lead by 11 at 30-19 with 4:45 left on the first half clock.
Peru State would lead by as many as 15 at 36-21 with 3:16 remaining in the half before leading 38-27 at the intermission.
The Wildcats would score the first seven points of the second half to close the gap to 38-34 before Sims would score the first points of the second session on an assist from Plain. Baker would keep it within striking distance for most of the second half until Peru State went up by 13 at 70-57 on a bucket by Jackson with 6:47 left in the game.
The Bobcats would extend the lead to 17 with just over a minute left and eventually claimed the 82-70 victory.
Team Statistics Both teams shot the ball well with Peru State making 29 of 54 field goals for 53.7% which included making 6 of 14 three-point tries for 42.9%. At the charity stripe, the Bobcats made 18 of 27 for 66.7%.
Baker also shot better than 50% as they made 23 of 44 field goals for 52.3%. From behind the arc, the Wildcats hit 7 of 15 for 46.7%. The Wildcats were better at the free throw line than Peru State as they made 17 of 23 for 73.9%.
The Wildcats did grab a few more rebounds than the Bobcats as they had 26 while Peru State grabbed 22.
Peru State forced 19 Wildcat turnovers while committing only ten in the contest.
Individual Statistics Three Bobcats finished in double figures with Sims scoring a game-high 28 points on 9 of 15 shooting including 5 of 8 from behind the arc. Jackson and
John Ruffin (Chicago) each added ten points.
Corday Sims goes for two of his game-
high 28 points in the Baker win Sims also had a team-high seven rebounds with
Jeff Neverson (Brooklyn, N.Y.) adding six.
Plain dished out six assists while Neverson led the team with three steals.
Sean McGary (Omaha) was credited with two blocked shots.
BAKER GAME BOOK Upcoming Games The Bobcats head to Fayette, Mo., on Saturday to face the Central Methodist University Eagles. The Eagles are currently 8-9 in conference play and 18-11 overall.
With a win, Peru State would assure itself of hosting a quarterfinal post-season game on Thursday, March 5, at 7 p.m. The Bobcats could be seeded as high as third with a win depending on the outcome of the other contests.
If Peru State should falter and the two teams behind them win, the Bobcats would fall to the fifth seed and they would have to go on the road for the quarterfinal game.
