Cornhusker State News

Tournament and will face off with No. 11 seed Mayville State (N.D.) in the Jamestown pod in Jamestown, N.D., hosted by three seed Jamestown who will face No. 14 seed Bethel (Kan.).

Peru State will face Mayville State on Tuesday, March 7, tip-off is set for 5:00 p.m. Jamestown will then follow and play Bethel with tip-off starting at 7:00 p.m. The winners of each game will play on Wednesday, March 8, tip is set for 6:00 p.m.

The Bobcats are 24-7 overall and finished 17-5 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play. Peru State earned the No. 2 seed in the Heart Conference Tournament and won the quarterfinal matchup against No. 7 seed Graceland 78-56, they then won the semifinal matchup against No. 3 seed Evangel in OT 76-71 and fell to No. 1 seed William Penn in the championship game 95-82.

Peru State earned the Heart's second automatic bid after finishing the regular season in second place with William Penn winning the regular season and conference tournament.

The 24 wins is currently the third winningest season in Bobcat history and the 17 Heart Conference wins is tied for most all-time.

Peru State has played in 32 games this season including the exhibition at Colorado State. Peru State is 14-4 in home games this season and have a 10-3 away mark.

The Bobcats score 84.8 points per game shooting 51.9% from the floor, 38.8% from beyond the arc and 68.5% from the line. The Bobcats average 34.6 rebounds per game and 14.4 assists per game.

Peru State's leading scorer is Lorenzo Anderson (Lithonia, Ga.) scoring 15.4 points per game. Jibril Harris (Chicago) is the Bobcat's leading rebounder with 7.6 per game and Man Man Baker (Aurora, Colo.) leads the team with 6.6 assists per game.

Mayville State is out of the North Star Athletic Association and won its conference tournament to earn the NSAA Automatic Bid. The Comets are 25-5 overall and 12-2 in conference play.

The Comets won their conference tournament defeating No. 8 seed Presentation College 91-63 in the quarterfinals, then they defeated No. 4 seed Valley City State University 102-82 in the semifinals and then beat No. 3 seed Dickinson State University 80-63 in the championship game.

Mayville State has played in 30 games this season. Mayville State is currently on an eight-game winning streak. The Comets are 14-2 at home and 8-2 on the road this season. Mayville State is 3-1 in neutral site games this season. Peru State has not played in a neutral site game all season.

The Comets score 92.8 points per game and shoot 53.7% from the floor, 35.3% from the three-point line and 70% from the charity stripe. Mayville State averages 41.6 rebounds per game and 19.4 assists per game.

Mayville State's leading scorer is Thomas Gieske he averages 16.2 points per game, he is also the Comets leading rebounder at 7.2 per game and J Canahuate is the team's assist leader with 3.8 per game.

The Bobcats and the Comets have met once in the regular season and once in the postseason.

Peru State defeated Mayville State in the regular season back in 2017 winning 79-70 on the road. The Bobcats and the Comets also met up in the National Tournament in 1962 where Peru State defeated Mayville State 90-74 in the first round of the tournament.

The Comets and the Bobcats had one common opponent this season in Ozark Christian. The Bobcats defeated Ozark 102-73 on Friday, November 18, at home in the Al Wheeler Activity Center. The Comets defeated Ozark 106-71 on Saturday, November 12, in the Bellevue University Tournament in Omaha, Nebraska.

This is Peru State's first NAIA National Tournament Appearance since 2019 when they were defeated by William Carey University (Miss.) 95-89 back when the tournament was just 32 teams all playing in Kansas City. 

Original source can be found here.