(Peru, Neb.)—On Saturday evening the Peru State men's basketball team fell to Grand View in a close one 81-76. Peru State falls to 13-14 on the season and 7-9 in conference play, Grand View improves to 15-9 overall and 10-7 in conference play.

Grand View jumped out to a 9-3 lead before Peru State found its footing early in the game. The Bobcats then went on a 13-2 run to make the score 16-11 from a three by Donzell Johnson. (Bloomington, Ill.)

The Bobcats then went on another massive run this time it was 16-4 run as they now led the Vikings 32-16 with 4:47 left to go in the half. The Vikings would fight towards the end of the half as they went on a 13-5 run to close it out the first half as they would only be down eight heading into halftime.

After the half, the Bobcats would extend their lead to ten once early from a Troy Houghton (Omaha) jumper to make the score 43-33. Then the Vikings came out strong as they went on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to three points with 16:22 left to play in the second half.

The Bobcats tried to keep the Vikings at arm's length for the next few minutes of action, but the Vikings took the lead 52-50 from a three-point shot. The Bobcats got the lead back up to six from a three by Isaac Simpson (Papillion). That lead was short-lived as the Vikings went on an 8-1 run to regain the lead 62-61 with just under nine minutes to play.

The Vikings and Bobcats kept taking the lead from one another throughout the middle part of the half. The Vikings got a little separation from a jumper and a few free throws as they led 70-66 with 4:23 left to play.

Skyler Wilson (Omaha) came up huge late as he hit a three to tie the game at 72 apiece with just under three minutes remaining. Unfortunately, the Vikings  answered with a three of their own on the very next possession.

The Bobcats cut the lead to one once more at 77-76 from a jumper made by Henry Tanksley (Lincoln). The Bobcats were unable to get shots to fall late and were unable to stop the Vikings as Grand View hung on for the 81-76 victory.

Here's what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about this evening's loss.

"We played a really good first 20 minutes outside of a few plays, but turnovers and defensive execution in the second half really hurt us," said Ludwig.

Ludwig talked about having a short memory for the upcoming game against Missouri Valley College.

"We need to have a short memory as we play a really physical, athletic Missouri Valley team on the road Monday."

The Bobcats shot 29-of-54 good for 53.7%, while the Vikings shot 31-of-56 good for 55.4% from the field. The Bobcats shot 12-of-28 from three as they were 42.9%, while the Vikings shot 9-of-21 for 42.9%. Both teams shot around the similar number of free throws as the Bobcats were 6-of-10 shooting 60% and the Vikings were 10-of-15 shooting 66.7%.

Four Bobcats were in double figures as Johnson led the way with 24 points, Simpson and Houghton were tied  in second with 14 apiece and Wilson added 11. Wilson nearly had a double-double adding nine rebounds.

The Bobcats are on the road to take on Missouri Valley College on Valentine's Day tip is set for 7:30 p.m.