Cornhusker State News

The Peru State men's basketball team survived against Graceland 81-80 on Wednesday night. The Bobcats improve to 10-4 overall and 5-3 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play while the Yellowjackets fall to 7-7 overall and 2-6 in conference play.

Below is a breakdown of how the game went…

Peru State started out scorching hot from beyond the arc as they were 5-of-5 from  three to start the game leading 15-8 after a Christian Tidiane (Council Bluffs, Iowa) with around 16 minutes to play in the first half.

Graceland then went on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 17 all with just over 12 minutes to play in the half. A little later in the first half the Bobcats went on a 11-3 run to take a 32-23 lead as Peru State was now 7-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Contributing to the run were three pointers by Donzell Johnson (Bloomington, Ill.), free throws by Skyler Wilson (Omaha), buckets by Tidiane and Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.)

Graceland then went on a 9-4 run to cut the Peru State deficit to four trailing 36-32 with two and half minutes to play in the first half. The Bobcats would take a 40-34 lead into the break.

The Yellowjackets would cut the deficit to four right away in the second half, The Bobcats then would extend their lead back out to eight after a layup from Tidiane.

Lorenzo Anderson (Lithonia, Ga.)  hit a three to make it a nine-point game as the Bobcats were up 49-40 with a little under 17 minutes to play.

Graceland then went on a 8-2 run as the Peru State lead shrunk to three as Peru State led 51-48. Peru State then stretched its lead to eight as they were leading 58-50 after Fatih Huyuk (Hatay, Turkey) put in layup.

The Yellowjackets got within four a few more times as they were trailing 60-56 with just under nine minutes to play.

Peru State then went on a 12-2 run take a 72-58 lead with around five minutes to play after Troy Houghton (Omaha) laid in a basket. The Bobcats took a 77-64 lead after a Johnson three pointer and it looked like as if the Bobcats were running away with it.

Graceland then went on a 10-0 run as they cut the  lead to three 77-74 with 1:32 to play left in the game. Anderson then made clutch free throws to give the Bobcats a five-point lead.

Graceland then made two free throws to make it a three-point game again. Graceland then got the lead down to one with seven seconds left 79-78. Anderson then made two more clutch free throws as the Bobcats were up 81-78.

Peru State survived as Graceland hucked a three and a put back two was not enough as the Bobcats won 81-80.

The Bobcats shot 32-of-57 from the field shooting 56.1%, 11-of-21 from beyond the arc shooting 52.4% and 6-of-9 from the charity stripe shooting 66.7%. The Yellowjackets shot 30-of-55 from the field shooting 54.5%, 12-of-22 from beyond the arc shooting 54.5% and 8-of-10 from the line shooting 80%.

Peru State outscored Graceland 36-30 in the paint, 18-13 in points off turnovers and Graceland outscored Peru State in bench points 35-20 and second chance points 18-5.
 Anderson led the way in scoring with 20 points, Johnson followed him with 13, Baker and Tidiane both finished with 12. Baker led the way in rebounds and

assists with six and eight respectively. 

Original source can be found here.