(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State men's basketball team upset the NAIA's No. 25 Briar Cliff in a nonconference tilt Monday night at home in the Al Wheeler Activity Center.

Peru State improves to 12-13 on the season while Briar Cliff falls to 17-8.

The Bobcats started the night hot as they hit back-to-back three pointers from Skyler Wilson (Omaha) and Henry Tanksley (Lincoln) to take the quick 6-0 lead. The Chargers would cut the lead to three before the Bobcats went on a 9-0 run capped off by a Dedoch Chan (Rochester, Minn.) layup to make the score 19-7.

Midway through the first half the No. 25 team in the country found their offensive groove as they went on a 11-2 run to tie the game with just under seven minutes to play in the half. After the Chargers tied the game at 21, the Bobcats would go on a 7-0 run of their own as Troy Houghton (Omaha) laid one in to make the score 28-21 with 3:34 remaining.

The Chargers went on a 7-2 run to close the gap to two points from a three-point shot with just above one minute to play in the half. The Bobcats would go into the locker room leading the No. 25 Chargers by four 32-28.
The start of the second half started with both teams trading buckets for the first four minutes of action, then Jibril Harris (Chicago) hit a three to extend the Bobcats lead to 43-36 at 15:06 mark. The Chargers would cut the lead down to four multiple times in the first ten minutes of the second half before the Bobcats would get their first big run of the second frame.

The Chargers cut it to 45-41 with 12:11 to play, then the Bobcats would go on a quick 6-0 run to get the lead back to ten 51-41 with 10:42 remaining. The Chargers came charging back with a 7-2 run of their own to make it a three-point game from a layup making the score 53-50. Wilson came up big and hit a huge three-point shot on the other end to extend the Bobcat lead right back out to six.

Down the stretch the Bobcats went on a 16-2 run as they now lead 69-52 with two minutes and change to play in the game. The Bobcats won the game 71-57 and upset the No. 25 team in the country.

Peru State shot proficiently from the floor as they were 29-of-49 shooting 59.2%. Briar Cliff was 24-of-54 as they were 44.4% from the floor. From the three-point line the Bobcats were 8-of-20 as they shot 40% from beyond while the Chargers were 8-of-23 as they were 34.8%. Neither team went to the free throw line often as Peru State was 5-of-6 shooting 83.3% and Briar Cliff was just 1-of-3 for 33.3% from the stripe. 

The Bobcats outrebounded the Chargers 32-14 on the glass. The Bobcats largest lead of the game was 17 points while Briar Cliff never led.

Here is what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about the upset win.

"We had good contribution from everyone who saw the floor tonight, said coach Ludwig. "Our energy and defensive focus was fun to watch."

Here is what coach Ludwig had to say about Briar Cliff and the scouting report.

"Briar Cliff is an extremely well coached, skilled team, "Coach (Mark) Hrabik did a fantastic job with the scouting report." "I hope this gives our guys some confidence for the final stretch of league play."

It was a team effort from the Bobcats tonight as they had three players in double figures and were close to having a fourth. Wilson led the team with 12 points, Tanksley followed with 11 and Houghton rounded out the double-figure scoring with 10. Harris nearly had another double -double as he contributed nine points and eight rebounds. Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.) led the team in assists as he ended with eight.

Peru State will have to reset quickly as they are on the road for a conference game against Clarke in Dubuque, Iowa. The tip is at 7:30 p.m.