(Peru, Neb.) – The Peru State men's basketball team was defeated 77-66 by the visiting Northwestern Red Raiders of Orange City, Iowa. The Red Raiders won the past matchup as well as last season 88-77 over the Bobcats. 
 
The 'Cats start out 0-1 on the season while Northwestern is now 1-1.  The Red Raiders opened their season with a loss to #14 NAIA DII Dakota State 90-89 in Madison, S.D. last Thursday.
 
First Half Action
 
The Bobcats got off to a quick start leading 7-0 in the first couple minutes of action from baskets by Lyle Hexom (Omaha), Matej Delinac (Brampton, Ontario, Canada), and Rashad Brackeen (Oakland, Calif.).  A pair of Northwestern turnovers led to four of the first seven Bobcat points.

 
At the 17:21 mark in the opening half, the Red Raiders were able to get their first points on the board and the Bobcat lead slowly vanished.  Peru State would get the lead back at the 11:46 mark on a baseline drive by Marley Biyendolo (Melbourne, Austrailia).  Northwestern would then go on a 7-0 run to take a 19-14 lead with less than 10 minutes to play in the half.   The first half would end with the Red Raiders going on an 8-2 run, with the lone Bobcat bucket in the final four minutes of the half coming from Anthony Richardson.  The Bobcats went into the half trailing 35-27 while shooting just 34% from the field.
 
Second Half Action
 
The poor shooting followed the 'Cats to begin the second half.  Just eight minutes in to the second half, Northwestern had expanded their lead to 20 and looked to have the game in hand.  The Bobcats did not show quit and held their ground through the entirety of the game. 
 
Peru State would go on outscore Northwestern through the final minutes of the half, but the game was too far out of reach as they were only able to cut the deficit to 11.   

NORTHWESTERN GAME BOOK
 
Team Statistics
 
Northwestern ended the game shooting 48% from the field including going 9/22 from deep.  On the other side, Peru State shot 5/21 from behind the arc but did manage to shoot 79% from the charity stripe to keep them in the game. 
 
The Red Raiders outrebounded Peru State 38-28 in the game and led to several more opportunities for Northwestern.
 
The 'Cats did force Northwestern to 20 turnovers while committing 14 themselves. The Bobcats also had eight steals compared to five for Grace.
 
Individual Statistics
 
The Bobcats were led by Lyle Hexom in scoring who had a game-high 23 points.  He was able to shoot 7-13 from the field and was perfect from the line going 8 for 8.  Rashad Brackeen added 15 points to pace Peru State. 
 
Brandon Eboigbodin (Nashville) led the team in both rebounds with six, steals with three, and assists with three. 

 
Hexom, the leading scorer, also added a team-high four blocks.  Noah Vasa (Nebraska City) had a block as well for the Bobcats.
 
Upcoming Games
 
Peru State's next four games are at home as well. This Friday night, Nov. 4, the Bobcats will host the Briar Cliff (Iowa) Broncos. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
 
The Bobcats will also host Park (Mo.) on Nov. 8 followed by their first two conference games vs. Evangel (Mo.) and Missouri Valley the following week.