(Peru, Neb.)- The Peru State College men's basketball team opened the 2026-27 season with a 77-60 non-conference victory against Kansas Christian on Friday night.
The Bobcats climb to 1-0 overall in the season while the Falcons would fall to 0-1.
The game would start off with Kansas Christian scoring the first four points until
Ashton Hermann (Huxley, Iowa / Upper Iowa University) would lob one up for
Damont Hanton (Philadelphia, Pa. / Culver-Stockton College) to slam down for Peru States first points of the season (4-2), Hanton would score 10 more points in a 26-5 bobcat charge to establish a 17-point lead (26-9). Peru State would continue to surge in the first half as after a pair of Kansas Christian free throws, the Bobcats would continue to cruise into the half on a 12-7 stretch that featured six different players score for Peru State (38-18).
The second half would see the Bobcats fire off six of the next seven points in the first 66 seconds of the period to extend the advantage to 25 (44-19), the Falcons would whittle the lead down to 18 (50-32) until
Kai'Ree Murray (Fort Bend, Texas / Angelina Community College) would draw a foul beyond the arc then proceed to knock down all three of his free throws to pull the lead back to 21 (53-32). An 11-7 Peru State stretch would bring the advantage back to 25 and Kansas Christian could not pull away as
Jeremiah Coleman (Parker, Colo. / University of Alaska Anchorage) would cash a three-point shot to make the score 69-44, the Falcons found a 16-8 push late in the game to cut the lead to seven, but time would expire as Peru State would take the win 77-60.
The Bobcats were led by Hanton who totaled 18 points, five rebounds and three steals while shooting 7-16 on the night and Hermann notched 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists,
Micah Brickner (San Diego, Calif. / San Diego City College) would find 11 points on the night with five rebounds and
Quentin Wright (Flower Mound, Texas / iSchool of Lewisville) would grab eight rebounds to lead the team while totaling six points and going 4-4 from the line.
Peru State would narrowly beat out Kansas Christian in rebounding (51-48) while the defense would force 16 turnovers and mark nine steals.
The Bobcats return to play on Wednesday in the Al Wheeler Activity Center to face off against Union Adventist.
