(Peru, Neb.) – The Bobcat men had a goal of keeping the Heart of America Athletic Conference's (HAAC) top scorer in check and they did that.  However, the Graceland University (GU) YellowJackets ended up with four players scoring in double figures, which proved too much for the Bobcats as GU won 88-71 in Lamoni, Iowa.
 
With the win, Graceland improves to 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the HAAC.  Peru State College (PSC) falls to 1-19 and 0-8 in the conference.  The YellowJackets are currently sixth in the HAAC while the Bobcats are tenth.
 
Game Action
 
Patrick Riley (Kansas City, Mo.) put the Bobcats on the board first with a field goal on the assist from Kevin Tighe (North Platte).  Graceland came back and stung the 'Cats with a 9-0 run before Tighe got a bucket with 16:49 left in the first half cutting it to 9-4.
 
The YellowJackets came out with another run, stinging the Bobcats for another 11 points going on top 20-4 before Derrick Williams (St. Joseph, Mo.) hit two free throws making it 20-6 at the 13:05 mark.
 
Graceland maintained a double-digit lead until Williams hit two more free throws with a little over six minutes left in the half getting the Bobcats with eight at 28-20. 
 
Peru State continued to cut into the lead and got it to a one-point deficit at 37-36 following a bucket and free throw by John Hart (Maryville, Mo.) with 64 seconds left in the half.  In the final minute, Graceland added five points taking a 42-36 lead into the break.
 
The 'Cats came out in the second half and scored the first seven points taking a 43-42 lead.  Buckets by Jacob Schaben (Defiance, Iowa), Riley, and Peter Knudsen (Vanloese, Denmark) and a free throw by Riley gave PSC the lead at the 17:40 mark.
 
The teams traded buckets before Graceland eventually took the lead for good at 46-45 with just over 15 minutes to go.  The Bobcats kept it close until having to foul late in the game and watched as the YellowJackets made their final 11 free throws in a row to capture the HAAC win.
 
Team Statistics
 
Graceland shot the ball well from the floor making 53.7% of their field goals hitting 29 of 54 tries.  They were cold; however, from three-point range canning only two of 14 for 14.3%.  The YellowJackets made 28 of 41 tries at the charity stripe for 77.8%.
 
The Bobcats made 23 of 57 field goal tries for 40.4%, which included going four of 13 from behind the arc for 30.8%.  Peru State had one of its better nights at the free throw lane making 21 of 26 attempts for 80.8%.
 
The YellowJackets outrebounded Peru State 40-29 and blocked five PSC shots.  Both teams committed 25 turnovers during the game. 

GAME BOX SCORE
 
Individual Statistics
 
Williams and Riley finished double figures for PSC with 23 and 12 points respectively.  Williams also had a team-high seven rebounds while Riley had a team-high three steals.
 
KNCY Player of the Game Comments – Patrick Riley
 
Following his 12-point effort and having to play tough inside, Riley was selected as the KNCY Player of the Game.  When discussing the game, Riley said, “It was a tough ballgame, but it was definitely a winnable ballgame.  We just have to finish out a whole game.  Today, we struggled with defensive transition.  We have to get back and not allow them to get those easy buckets.”  Riley continued, “It is not a step-back, but we have to take care of the ball and do the little things right.”  In conclusion, Riley added, “I wanted to show the team that we need to play hard the whole time and no one can take time off during the game.  Once we all figure that out and we all play the whole game, we will be okay.”
 
Bobcat Coach Comments –
 
Bobcat head coach Troy Katen was disappointed with the loss, but still proud of his team.  Katen said, “Well, you know the situation and is sounds like the same broken record.  We played well-enough to win, but again after falling behind and then making up that deficit, it takes a lot out of a team.    We challenged the guys in the post to pick it up and when we got into foul trouble, we just couldn't match up with them.    The guard play up and down the bench was good.  We did a good job of adjusting and we got some good looks, but we just did not hit them.  We had some injuries, but others stepped up.  The lack of the inside game just hurt us.”
 
Katen continued, “Their second and third guys defended well and did a very good job of collapsing on our guys which made it tough for us to run our offense.  We were successful once we got it back out and made some things happen from the outside.     They set up the 2-3 zone and didn't really pack it in, but we just could not get anything inside and we had to settle for some shots outside. Then they had five guys in there to grab the rebounds.”
 
In conclusion, Katen added, “I have a lot of confidence in our guys, but we have to put together a full 40 minutes.  It is a fine line from a win and a loss.  We just have to get over the distractions.  Against Evangel, we will just have to come and play with a lot of heart and pride.”
 
Upcoming Games
 
Saturday, Jan. 21, the Bobcats will host the Evangel University Crusaders in a HAAC contest beginning at approximately 4 p.m.  The game against the Crusaders will end the first half of HAAC action. 
 
On Thursday, Jan. 26, PSC will be at home hosting the league leaders, MidAmerica Nazarene University Pioneers.  Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  The women and men's doubleheader  will be Staff Appreciation Night for Peru State College employees.
 
Saturday, Jan. 28, will find the 'Cats travelling to Fayette, Mo., to play the Central Methodist University Eagles.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.
 
All Bobcat games can be heard live on KNCY 103.1 Country Radio.  Bobcat fans can now listen to Bobcat basketball on their mobile devices by clicking on the Live Audio link on either the women or men's schedules at pscbobcats.com.  This is not an app, but rather a link through the internet.  In addition, all home games are now available via Livestream that can be accessed by linking to the Live Audio button on the same schedule.