(Peru, Neb.)—On Wednesday night the Peru State men's basketball team lost to Central Methodist in the first round of the Heart Tournament. The Bobcats fell to the Eagles 70-64, the Bobcats finish their season with an overall record of 16-15.

Early in the first half the Bobcats got out to a quick 8-2 lead before the Eagles settled into the game and the two teams would go back and forth trading buckets. The first big run of the game came from the Bobcats as they went on a 10-2 run capped off by a Troy Houghton (Omaha) field goal.

Peru State led 20-10 with ten minutes to go in the first half. The Eagles then went on a 9-2 run to cut the lead to three before Henry Tanksley (Lincoln) knocked down a three extending the Bobcat lead to 25-19.

The Eagles cut the lead down to five points before the Bobcats extended their lead back out to nine. The 'Cats would head into the locker room up 36-27.

After the half, Peru State kept the lead around nine for a little while before Central Methodist made its first run of the second half. The Eagles went on a 13-2 to take their first lead in the second half 44-42.

For the next few minutes, the Bobcats and Eagles would be in a fist fight as no one could regain the lead. The 'Cats finally regained the lead from a Tanksley field goal at the 10:25 mark to go up 50-48.

Then the Eagles went on a 7-0 run now leading 57-52 with 7:27 left in the game. Later, in the half, Dedoch Chan (Rochester, Minn.) hit a two-point field goal to cut the lead to 59-56. Unfortunately, the deficit would immediately climb back up to six as Central Methodist hit a three.

The Eagles extended their lead to eight points 66-58 with 2:42 remaining before the Bobcats would start their comeback. Tanksley hit a shot to cut the lead to six. Central Methodist missed a free throw leading to a made jumper by Jibril Harris (Chicago) now the lead was 66-62 with just under two to play.

After a multitude of errors committed by both teams, the Eagles missed another free throw and Houghton connected with a made field goal to cut the lead to two with 30 seconds to play. Then the Eagles turned the ball over in the backcourt giving the Bobcats the ball with 24 seconds left.

The Bobcats unfortunately gave the ball right back to the Eagles and they knocked down two free throws to make it a two-possession game with 22 seconds to play. The 'Cats had two clean looks from three but were unable to knock down either of them. The Eagles hit two more free throws to seal the 70-64 win to move onto the semifinals of the Heart Tournament.

Here's what head coach Bob Ludwig had to say about the loss.

"It was a rough second half," said Ludwig. "We turned it over far too much, and defensively we were flat out not good enough to beat a national tournament level team when our shots weren't falling."

Here's what coach Ludwig said about the season overall.

"I am proud of the fight our guys showed to win six of our last seven regular season games in securing a winning season and conference tournament opportunity."

Ludwig added…

"Moving forward, it's time to get our program back to competing on the national stage. We will take a much-needed break, but I look forward to the offseason with this group. We know the areas we need to improve on, and I'm anxious to get back to work soon."

Peru State shot 28-of-58 from the field shooting 48.3% while Central Methodist shot 29-of-65 shooting 44.6%. Neither team shot well from distance as the 'Cats were 4-of-18 shooting 22.2% from deep and the Eagles shot 5-of-20 shooting 25% from beyond the arc. The 'Cats and The Eagles went to the free throw line sparingly, the Bobcats shot 4-of-7 shooting 57.1% while the Eagles shot 7-of-13 shooting 53.8%.

Peru State had just two players in double figures as Tanksley led the way with 23 and Houghton put up 18 and nearly had a double-double with seven rebounds. Leading the way in rebounds was Harris as he grabbed ten and was close to a double-double with eight points.