(Peru, Neb.)—On Saturday February 19, the Peru State men's basketball team defeated Graceland 84-71 to keep their tournament hopes alive. The Bobcats finish the season with a record of 16-14 overall and 10-9 in conference play. Graceland finishes the season with an 8-22 overall record and 4-15 in conference play.

It was a tightly contested first half, after the Yellowjackets started the game on an 8-2 run. Then the Bobcats went on a quick 5-0 run capped off by a two-point jumper from Troy Houghton (Omaha) to make the score 8-7 Yellowjackets early in the half.

The Bobcats and Yellowjackets would play within five points of each other in the beginning ten minutes of the first half. The Yellowjackets would then go on a 6-0 run with 7:11 to play in the first half as they now led 23-16.

The 'Cats cut the lead down to three out of a timeout before Graceland went on a 5-0 run to extend their lead 28-20 with 4:47 remaining in the half.

Then the Bobcats went on a run finished by a jumper by Dedoch Chan (Rochester, Minn.) who provided a spark off the bench. The two-point deficit was short lived as the Yellowjackets responded with a 5-0 run to extend the lead back up to seven.

The final minute of the half belonged to the 'Cats as they went on a 6-2 run to close out and they would go into the break down three 37-34.

After the break, the 'Cats immediately went on a 9-4 run to take the 43-41 lead from a Jibril Harris (Chicago) three-pointer. The Bobcats and Yellowjackets then played another tightly contested first ten minutes of the second half.

The game was tied at 54 all when Houghton drilled a three to take the 57-54 lead with 11:41 to go. That sparked an 18-3 run by Peru State that was finished off with a Houghton layup who originally started the 18-3 run.

The Bobcats only let the Yellowjackets score 12 more points in the whole game as they took the 81-66 victory.

The Bobcats have made postseason play with the victory as they clinched the three seed in the Heart (North) thanks to a loss by Mount Mercy. The Bobcats will hit the road to face the Heart (South) two seed Central Methodist on Wednesday night tip is set for 7:00 p.m.

The Bobcats lost to the Eagles last month 75-68 down in Fayette, Mo., in the teams only meeting of the season.

Here's what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about the win:

"After a rough first half, a ton of guys stepped up and had big nights offensively," said Ludwig. "Troy (Houghton) was tough at the rim, Skyler (Wilson) and Henry (Tanksley) shot it extremely well from the perimeter, and Jibril (Harris) had a nice second half as well."

Ludwig continued…

"Dedoch (Chan) came back from an injury to give us a spark on both ends."

Here's what coach Ludwig had to say about the tournament matchup.

"I'm excited to compete at Central Methodist on Wednesday with this group," Ludwig said. "We've had our ups and downs but to win six out of our last seven games shows the character that these guys have. They've been really fun to coach."

The Bobcats shot 32-of-65 from the field shooting 49.2% while the Yellowjackets shot 28-of-54 shooting 51.9% from the field. Peru State shot 14-of-37 37.8% from beyond the arc while Graceland shot 10-of-25 from deep good for 40%. Neither team went to the line often as the 'Cats shot 6-of-10 shooting 60% from the line and the Yellowjackets shot a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe

Leading the way in scoring for the Bobcats was Skyler Wilson (Omaha) with 17 points.Tied for second in scoring was Houghton and Tanksley as they each added 16 points. The last player with double-figure scoring was Harris as he added 13. The leading rebounder was Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.) as he grabbed eight boards and nearly had a double-double putting in seven points.