(Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State men's basketball team survived a scare from Missouri Valley defeating the Vikings 82-78 on Saturday evening. The Bobcats are now 20-6 overall and 15-5 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play while the Vikings fall to 8-16 overall and 6-12 in conference play.
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
It was a tight game early as the Bobcats were up 12-8 before their first run of the game. Peru State then went on a 8-2 run to take a double digit 20-10 lead with around 14 minutes to go in the first half.
Contributing to the run were baskets by
Troy Houghton (Omaha),
Lorenzo Anderson (Lithonia, Ga.),
Jibril Harris (Chicago) and
Sayvon Traylor (Atlanta).
Missouri Valley then went on a 8-2 run to cut the deficit to four trailing 22-18 with 12 minutes to play in the first half. The Bobcats then went an 8-3 run to take a 30-21 lead capped off by a layup from Harris.
The Vikings cut the lead down to five before the Bobcats would get the lead back out to double digits after two threes from Traylor and a layup by Anderson sandwiched in between. Peru State led 38-25 with around four minutes to play in the first.
Missouri Valley got the lead back into single digits with three minutes to play in the half trailing 38-30.
David Wingett Jr. (Winnebago) hit a three as the Bobcats went back up by 11.
Peru State took a 45-33 lead heading into the locker rooms.
The Bobcats extended their lead out to 16-points early in the second after buckets from Harris and Houghton leading 51-35. Missouri Valley then went on a 8-2 run to cut the Bobcat lead to ten as they trailed 53-43 with 14:50 to play.
Peru State extended its lead out to 13-14 points a few more times in the second half the latest up 61-48 after free throws from Houghton. A little later in the second half the Vikings cut the lead to seven trailing 63-56 after going on a 8-2 run as there were under ten minutes to play.
The Bobcats kept extended their lead to double-digits but the Vikings would not go away. Peru State was up 72-62 with under six minutes to play but Missouri Valley then went on a big run.
The Vikings went on an 8-0 run to make the score 72-70 with under four minutes to play. Harris then made a huge layup to get the game back out to two possessions up 74-70. Missouri Valley then had an and-one bucket as the Vikings had cut the lead all the way down to one.
Harris then made two huge plays first with a layup and then a steal, an outlet pass for a dunk to Houghton as the Bobcats were up five 78-73 with 1:44 to play.
Peru State was up 80-75 with 30 seconds to play, then Missouri Valley hit a three as they trailed by just two down 80-78.
Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.) hit two huge free throws down the stretch with 18 seconds left and the Bobcats would hang on for the 82-78 win.
Peru State shot 26-of-57 from the field shooting 45.6%, 6-of-22 from deep shooting 27.3% and 24-of-28 from the charity stripe shooting 85.7%.
Missouri Valley shot 30-of-64 from the field shooting 46.9%, 9-of-21 from beyond the arc shooting 42.9% and 9-of-13 from the free throw line shooting 69.2%.
Peru State outscored Missouri Valley 36-32 in the paint, 17-10 in points off turnovers and Missouri Valley outscored Peru State 44-12 in bench points.
Anderson led the way in points with 26, Houghton had 20, Harris had 15 points and Traylor finished with 12 points. Harris finished with a team-high eight rebounds. Houghton had a team high-eight assists.
Peru State returns home for senior night against Clarke on Wednesday, February 15. Tip-Off is set for 7:30 p.m.
