by (Peru, Neb.)—The Peru State men’s basketball team defeated Baker 95-93 on Saturday night earning the number two seed in the Heart Conference Tournament. The Bobcats finish the season 22-6 overall and 17-5 in conference play while the Wildcats fall to 21-7 overall and 16-6 in conference play.
The 17 Heart conference wins is tied for the most all time with the 2015-16 squad since joining the Heart.
Below is a breakdown of how the game went…
Peru State got off to a slow start at the Collins Center as they trailed Baker 16-4 four minutes into the game. The Bobcats were still struggling with 14 minutes remaining in the half down 21-7.
The Bobcats then went on a 11-4 run to cut the lead down to seven trailing 25-18 with 11 minutes remaining. Contributing to the run were buckets by Jibril Harris(Chicago), three-pointers by Troy Houghton(Omaha), David Wingett Jr.(Winnebago) and a free throw from Man Man Baker(Aurora, Colo.).
The Wildcats then drilled a three-point shot to extend their lead back out to ten. An 8-2 run by Peru State brought the lead back within four after a jumper from Christian Tidiane(Council Bluffs, Iowa).
A three from the Wildcats extended their lead back out to seven as they were now leading 33-26. Peru State then went on a 11-4 run tying the game at 37 all after Lorenzo Anderson(Lithonia, Ga.) made a layup.
Peru State and Baker then went back-and-forth trading baskets the game was 41-41 with 2:30 left in the first. The Bobcats then went on a 8-0 run towards the tail end of the first leading 49-41.
Contributing to the run was a bucket by Baker and threes from Harris and Anderson. The Wildcats hit a three at the buzzer as Peru State took a 49-44 lead into the locker room.
Baker went on a 5-0 run immediately out of the halftime break to tie the game at 49 all. Houghton broke the tie with an old fashioned three point play, but the Wildcats hit the Bobcats back with an old fashioned three of their own as it was all tied at 52.
A little later in the second half the Bobcats went on a 7-2 run to take a 59-54 lead with just under 14 minutes to play in the game. The Wildcats then tied the game at 59 all from a layup not even a minute later.
Peru State then went on a 7-0 run to take a 66-59 lead, highlighting the run was a steal-n-slam from Anderson and then a splash from downtown by Sayvon Traylor(Atlanta). The Wildcats were able to cut the lead down to four trailing 66-62 right before the media timeout.
Peru State then went on a 8-2 run to take a 74-64 leadafter a Donzell Johnson(Bloomington, Ill.) three-point shot.
Baker was able to cut the lead back down to four with just above six minutes to go as the Bobcats were clinging to a 78-74 lead.
Peru State got the lead back out to eight points up 82-74 after a layup from Baker with 4:09 to play. Baker was able to cut the lead down to five several times in the final four minutes the latest down 86-81 with 1:32 to play.
The Wildcats were able to cut the lead down to four trailing 88-84 with under a minute to play. The Bobcats hit clutch free throws down the stretch. They hit six in a row during the final minute as they were up 94-87 with 15 seconds left.
Baker then hit a three as they trailed by four down 94-90 with ten seconds left, the Wildcats were able to get a steal an another three as they trailed by one 94-93 with four seconds left.
Anderson went 1-of-2 at the line leaving the door open for Baker but they turned the ball over and the Bobcats hung on for the 95-93 win.
Peru State shot 32-of-65 from the field shooting 49.2%, 7-of-23 from beyond the arc shooting 30.4% and 24-of-30 from the charity stripe shooting 80%.
Baker shot 33-of-62 from the field shooting 53.2%, 12-of-25 from deep shooting 48% and 15-of-19 at the line shooting 78.9%.
Peru State outscored Baker 42-26 in the paint and 20-8 in second chance points. Baker outscored Peru State 14-12 in points off turnovers although the Bobcats only committed ten while the Wildcats committed 19. Baker outscored Peru State 53-21 off the bench.
Anderson led the way in points with 27, Baker finished with 18, Houghton had 13 and Traylor had 11. Baker and Traylor each had a team-high seven rebounds. Baker finished with a team-high six assists.
Peru State has earned the No. 2 seed in the Heart Conference Tournament and will host No. 7 seed Graceland Thursday, February 23. Tip-Off is set for 7:00 p.m.
