(Peru, Neb)—On Senior Night the Peru State men's basketball team defeated Culver-Stockton 80-65 to keep their conference playoff hopes alive. The Bobcats improve to 15-14  overall and 9-9 in conference play. the Wildcats fall to 14-13 and 5-13 in conference play.

In the beginning ten minutes of the first half neither team could get the advantage as both teams kept it a one-possession game. The first substantial lead of the game came from the Bobcats as they went on an 11-3 run as Henry Tanksley (Lincoln) drilled a three to make the score 21-12.

After that the Wildcats would go on their first run of the game as they went on a 9-2 run making the score 23-21 Bobcats with 7:39 remaining in the half. The Wildcats and Bobcats then were in a back-and-forth affair in the latter stages of the first half.

Culver-Stockton eventually took a 32-31 lead with 2:44 to play. The Bobcats finished the half strong on a 7-2 run leading 38-34 at the half.

The Bobcats came out of the half ready to roll as they went on a 11-2 run to open the second 20 minutes capped off by  a Skyler Wilson (Omaha) three-point shot. The 'Cats now led 49-36 with just above 16 minutes to play.

After the Wildcats cut the lead down to eleven points, the Bobcats went on another big run as this time the 9-2 run was finished by a Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.) layup. The Bobcats were now up 60-42.

The Wildcats did cut the lead down to 12 points with just under eight minutes to play. Then Wilson hit a big three on the next possession.

The Wildcats got the lead down to 11 points with 3:39 to play but they were never able to get down to single digits in the half.

With two minutes left in the game Blake Petersen (Columbus) checked in as Petersen, Isaac Simpson (Papillion) and Tanksley were all on the floor in the final minutes for Senior Night.

The Bobcats finished the game 80-65 and still have a chance to make the Heart of America Athletic Conference tournament.

Here is what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about the three seniors.

"It was great to get a win on senior night," said Ludwig. "Those three guys have been awesome student-athletes and have very bright futures."

Ludwig continued…

"It was also special to see Henry (Tanksley) have such a big night in front of his family in his last home game."

Here's what the head coach had to say about the rigid schedule down the stretch.

"It's been a tough stretch here as far as having back-to-back three game weeks," Ludwig said. "We need to dig deep to keep our conference playoff hopes alive on the road Saturday."

Peru State shot lights out from the field as they were 31-of-55 good for 56.4% while Culver-Stockton shot 19-of-50 good for 38%. Neither team shot well from beyond the arc as the Bobcats were 6-of-20 shooting 30%. The Wildcats shot 5-of-16 from three good for 31.3%. Both teams went to the line plenty as the Bobcats were 12-of-19 from the charity stripe good for 63.2% while the Wildcats shot 22-of-25 shooting 88% from the line. Peru State outscored Culver-Stockton 42 to 14 in the paint.

Leading the way in points was Tanksley as he put in 27 points, moving him into tenth on the all-timing scoring list with 1,210 career points. Houghton was second in scoring with 15 points and coming in third was Wilson with ten. Jibril Harris (Chicago) led the way on the boards as he finished with ten and nearly had a double-double adding six points.

Peru State's final regular season game is in Lamoni, Iowa to take on Graceland with massive tournament implications on the line. Tip is set for 4:00 p.m.