(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State men's basketball team put on an offensive showcase Wednesday night as they nearly eclipsed 100 points. The Bobcats defeated Clarke 98-83 in Dubuque, Iowa. Peru State improves to 13-13 overall and 7-8 in conference play. Clarke falls to 11-14 overall and 6-10 in conference play.

In the first half it was a slow start for the Bobcats after trading buckets for the first four minutes of action. Then the Pride went on a 13-2 run leading 20-7 midway through the first half. The Bobcats would then go on a 10-1 run of their own cutting the lead to four with 9:22 to play.

The Bobcats hung around a five-point deficit for a while before going on a 9-2 run to take the 30-29 lead from a Skyler Wilson (Omaha) jump shot.  For the final five minutes of action in the first half it was a back-and-forth affair. It looked like the Bobcats would take a five-point lead into the break when Wilson hit a three from beyond half court to go up eight and the Bobcats led at the half was 52-44.

Coming out of the break both teams came back right where they left off as the kept trading baskets for the first part of the second half. Peru State did just enough to keep Clarke at arm's length the majority of the second half.
After Clarke cut it down to nine points 73-64, the Bobcats would go on a quick 5-0 run capped off by a Henry Tanksley (Lincoln) three-point shot to extend the lead 78-64.

Clarke was never able to cut the lead by more than nine points in the entire second half as the offensive firepower was just too much for the Pride. The Bobcats won the game 98-83.

Here is what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about tonight's performance.

"The guys showed a ton of heart to win three games in five days, especially on the road," said Ludwig. "Skyler (Wilson), Troy (Houghton) and Henry (Tanksley) were fantastic offensively."

Ludwig spoke highly of Ty Griggs who finished with six points, three assists and two rebounds.

"Ty Griggs played well in his minutes both in heping us get stops and in making a key bucket to separate late in the game. He has been a spark for us lately and has a very bright future in our program."

The Bobcats were unconscious shooting the ball Wednesday night as they were 34-of-64 shooting 53.1%, the Pride shot 28-of-61 good for 45.9%. The Bobcats connected on 60% of their threes as they were 15-of-25 while the Pride shot 8-of-24 shooting just 33.3%. The Bobcats got to the line 20 times tonight as they finished 15-of-20 good for 75%. The Pride were 19-of-31 shooting 61.3%.

Four Bobcats finished in double-figures as Tanksley led the way in scoring with 26 points, Wilson and Troy Houghton (Omaha) had 20 apiece and Jibril Harris (Chicago) finished with 15 and nearly had a double-double grabbing eight boards.

Peru State hits the road Saturday as they look to take on Grand View in Des Moines, Iowa.