(Peru, Neb.) – The Pride and 'Cats men's basketball teams played a great Heart of American Conference (Heart) game that went back and forth for the entire game. The game included eight lead changes and five ties throughout.
 
Clarke would get a Heart North Division win 77-73 to improve to 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the Heart. The Bobcats fell to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Heart North.
 
First Half Action
 
Peru State jumped out to a quick 7-2 lead with 17:49 remaining. Skyler Wilson (Omaha) hit a field goal, Craig Jordan (Compton, Calif.) made a bucket, and Isaac Simpson (Papillion) hit a three off an assist from Wilson.

 
The scoring would go back and forth being tied at 11 with 14:02 left. Brandon Fenner (Charleston, Ark.) would break the tie after making one free throw. The 'Cats would lead by four after Jordan would hit a field goal at the 13:03 mark to make the score 15-11 advantage Bobcats.
 
The game would be tied again at the 4:06 mark at 26. The Pride would take the lead and then the game would be tied again after Simpson made a field goal to get the score all even again at 30 with just under two and half minutes remaining in the 20 minutes.
 
Clarke would gain a three-point lead before Carl Brown (Omaha) made a bucket to get back within one of the Pride 33-32 with just 1:48 left to go until halftime.
 
Ta'Vion Anderson (Omaha) would able to hit a free throw with 26 seconds remaining to get back within two of the Pride 35-33.
 
The Pride would get one last bucket with three seconds reaming to take a four-point lead going into the halftime break.
 
Second Half Action
 
The 'Cats would come out of the halftime break and go on a 6-2 run with Jordan scoring all six points. The Pride would still lead 39-38 with 19:16 on the clock.
 
Clarke would go up by five points before Wilson hit a field goal to cut the lead back down to three 43-40 with 17:29 left to go in the game.
 
Henry Tanksley (Lincoln) scored four straight points for the 'Cats as they still trailed by three 47-44 with 15:03 remaining.
 
The Bobcats would go nearly two minutes before their next field goal. That field goal game from Afenjar Amitai (Los Angeles) at the 13:19 mark with a score Clarke 48 Peru State 46.

 
The next tie in the game will come at 50. Jordan hit a bucket at the 11:31 mark, and the 'Cats would take the lead on the next possession when DJ Fields (Omaha) made a bucket as Peru State would take a 52-50 lead in the ball game.
 
Clarke would tie it up at the other end at 52 with just under 11 minutes remaining in the game.
 
Peru State would get the game tied at 57 with 7:57 left in the stanza when Jordan made a bucket off the pass from Wilson.
 
Clarke would take the lead at 59-57 before Jordan made a three off an assist from Wilson to take the lead right back with 6:38 left to go in the game. This would be the last time the Bobcats would have the lead in the game.
 
Later, Clarke would go on a 7-0 run before Fenner made a bucket with 5:01 on the clock to make the score Clarke 69 Peru State 62.
 
Tyrece Griggs (Omaha) made a bucket to get the 'Cats within five points of Clarke 69-64 with just over three minutes to go.
 
Wilson hit two free throws with 39 seconds remaining to get the 'Cats within two points of Clarke 73-71. This would be the closest they would get as Clarke would be able to hold off the Bobcats to get the conference win 77-73.

CLARKE BOX SCORE
 
Team Stats
 
Clarke connected on 23 of 51 field goals for 45.1% which included making 6 of 22 from the three for 27.3%. At the free throw line, the Pride made 25 of 36 for 69.4%. The 'Cats connected on 30 of 60 field goals for 50% which included making 6 of 18 from long distance for 33.3%. At the charity stripe, Peru State made hit 7 of 9 for 77.8%
 
The Pride grabbed 34 rebounds – 11 of which were offensive. Peru State grabbed 31 rebounds.
 
Clarke dished out 13 assists compared to six for the 'Cats. Each team committed 13 turnovers.
 
Clarke recorded seven steals compared to just six for the Bobcats
 
The Pride registered five blocks while Peru State had three.
 
Peru Individual Stats
 
Jordan had season- and team-high 23 points on 9-12 shooting including 3-3 from behind the three-point line. Simpson was the only other Bobcat in double figures as he finished with ten.

 
Wilson dished out team high five assists.
 
Amitai had a game-high eight rebounds and Wilson added six.
 
Wilson and Simpson each registered two steals while Fenner and Fields registered one.
 
Amitai, Simpson, and Wilson each recorded one block in the game.
 
Upcoming Games
 
On Dec. 15 at 5:30 p.m. the Bobcat men will travel to Lamoni, Iowa, to take on the Graceland Yellowjackets.
 
There will be one more game for the Bobcat men's team on Dec. 30 when Great Plains Athletic Conference team Concordia Bulldogs come to the Al Wheeler Activity Center. The game is schedule to tip off at 7:30 p.m.
 
In 2021, on January 2, the 'Cats will travel to Madison, S.D., to take on Dakota State University at with a tip time of 7:00 p.m.
 
The first Heart game of the new year will be on Jan. 9 when William Penn (Iowa) comes to town. Both teams played earlier in the year with the first meeting going to the Statesmen. Tip will be at 4:00 p.m.