by (Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State men’s basketball team defeated No. 11 seed Mayville State 101-92 in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament in Jamestown, ND. The Bobcats improve to 25-7 overall while the Comets finish the season 25-6 overall.
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
It was a back-and-forth affair early in the first half as Peru State trailed Mayville State 10-9 with a little under 15 minutes to play after Man Man Baker(Aurora, Colo.) knocked down a three. A few minutes later the Comets would extend their lead to six up 19-13.
Peru State was able to get to within four before Mayville State went on a 6-0 run to take a ten point 25-15 lead. The Bobcats got the lead down to six points 27-21 after Lorenzo Anderson(Lithonia, Ga.) hit a two-point bucket.
The Bobcats then went on an 8-2 run with around five minutes to play as David Wingett Jr.(Winnebago) put in a bucket. Peru State was trailing Mayville State 31-29. The Comets were able to get their lead out back to six late in the first half.
Peru State was able to cut the lead back down to two after Anderson scored. Mayville State was up 41-34 with under two minutes to play in the half. The Bobcats finished the half on an 8-0 run to take a 42-41 lead into the locker room.
Contributing to the run was an and-one by Baker, a bucket from Sayvon Traylor(Atlanta) and a three from Wingett Jr.
The second half was the same as the first in the beginning stage as each team went back-and-forth but the Bobcats took a four point 55-51 lead after back-to-back threes from Traylor and Harris four minutes into the second half.
The Comets were able to cut the lead down to two before the Bobcats extended their lead back out to six up 59-53 after a basket from Baker. The Comets a little later in the second half cut the lead down to three trailing 64-61 with 11:11 to play.
Peru State then went on a 12-2 run to take 76-63. Contributing to the run were baskets by Harris, a three from Traylor, a three from Harris, free throws and a bucket from Anderson.
The Comets were able to cut the lead down to eight trailing 77-69 with under seven minutes to play in the game. Peru State was able to get the lead back out to 14 up 83-69 with about five minutes to play.
The Comets were able to get the lead down to ten a few more times and also down into single digits with 42 seconds left as the Bobcats were up 95-87. Peru State hung on for the 101-92 win.
It is the fourth time this season the Bobcats have hit the century mark.
Peru State shot 31-of-65 from the field shooting 47.7%, 8-of-23 from beyond the arc shooting 34.8% and 31-of-38 from the line shooting 81.6%.
Mayville State shot 36-of-72 from the field shooting 50%, 5-of-16 from deep shooting 31.3% and 15-of-18 from the charity stripe 83.3%.
The Comets outscored the Bobcats 58-42 in the paint, 11-7 in points off turnovers and 29-26 off the bench.
Anderson led the way in scoring for the Bobcats with 22, Wingett Jr. finished with 21, Traylor had 20, Baker had 18 and Harris finished with 12. Harris had a double-double with 10 boards and led the team in rebounds. Baker finished with a team-high six assists.
