Peru State College Athletics

(Peru, Neb.)- Seven Bobcats reached double-digit scoring marks as The Peru State College men's basketball team enjoyed a 117-74 victory over non-conference opponent Ecclesia in the Al Wheeler Activity Center on Friday night.
 
The win takes the Bobcats to 3-1 overall while the Royals would drop to 0-4 on the season.
 
The opening four minutes of play would feature both teams trading blows as a layup from Ecclesia would see the Peru State lead cut to one (9-8), until a 9-2 run sparked by five points from Aaron Murphy (Greenville, N.C. / Greenfield High School) to extend the advantage to nine with 13:30 remaining in the first half. A 10-7 stretch of play in favor of the Royals would dull the edge to six (25-19) before another 9-2 series from Peru State would pull the lead to 12 (34-22), back-to-back three's from Ecclesia would dull the edge back down to six (34-28) but the Bobcats would respond as Davon Smith-Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio / Maple Heights High School) would convert a layup through contact then sink the following free throw to spark a 15-4 edge that brought the lead to 17 points (49-32). The Royals would answer through an 8-0 spurt to bring the edge down to nine (49-40), but three straight field goals from the home team would bring the score to 55-40 going into the second half.
 
The second half started out with a 13-2 series over the first six minutes in favor of Peru State to take the lead to 26 (68-42), a swift 8-3 blow from the visitors would be followed up by a 13-5 run from the Bobcats that featured threes from three different players to extend the edge to 29 (84-55) with 10:52 remaining.  A 12-5 series for Peru State took the lead to 38 points (96-60) and after two field goals from Ecclesia, a transition dunk from Smith-Johnson would cap off a 10-0 burst to bring the score to 108-64 with 3:37 left in the second half. Ecclesia would find a 10-6 spurt in 2:23 of play, but the Bobcats would score the final three points to take the win with a score of 117-74.
 
Offensively Murphy showed out with a 28-point performance going 11-19 from the field and 4-5 from the line while Kai'Ree Murray (Fort Bend, Texas / Fort Bend Bush High School) would contribute 17 points from the bench, shooting 6-9 from the field and 2-3 from the three-point line. Smith-Johnson saw 14 points while also shooting 6-9 from the field and Ashton Hermann (Huxley, Iowa / Ballard High School) would put up 13 points with a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line as well as pacing the team with eight assists and marking six rebounds. Rex Krout (Rogers, Ark. / Rogers High School) posted 12 points on the night, going a perfect 5-5 overall while Jackson Twombly (Frankfort, Ky. / Woodford County High School) and Damont Hanton (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania / Upper Darby High School) both recorded 11 points, Hanton would grab 10 rebounds for a double-double performance while Twombly would total seven rebounds and four assists.
 
The Bobcats would dominate on the boards 54-26 while boasting a 48-point margin in points in the paint (72-24). Peru State also held a 14-point advantage in points off the bench (46-32) as well as a 12-point differential in second chance points (19-7).
 
The Bobcats are on the road next as they face off against non-conference Dakota Wesleyan on Wednesday, November 11^th, Tip-off is set for 6:00 PM.