Men's Basketball Falls to Peru State on Senior Day

Marshall, Mo., (Feb. 10, 2024)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams hosted Peru State (Neb.) in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader on Senior Day inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  The women's team finished out a 79-65 victory, while the men's team fell, 91-71.

The men's game started with a steal from Junior Jace Lance (Marshall, Mo.) that led to an alley-oop dunk from Junior Oliver Pauleon-Gerard (Covington, Ga.).  Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) followed with a three-pointer, while Junior Dylan Driver (Covington, Ga.) added a layup, but MVC sat in a 9-7 deficit with three minutes played.  Peru State extended its advantage out to 14-7, then 17-9 with just over five minutes played in the game.  The next basket for MVC came from Junior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) near the 13-minute mark, but the team eventually trailed by a 22-13 score with just over eight minutes gone in the game.  Smith came back and scored the next two field goals for the Vikings, cutting the gap to 22-17 with less 11 minutes to play in the half.  Junior Jarrius Burnett (Warrenton, Ga.) finished off a three-point play midway through the half, and made it a 27-22 score.  The Bobcats responded with a 9-2 run over the next two minutes, extending their advantage to 36-24.  Pauleon-Gerard cut the deficit back to single digits with under three minutes left on the clock, at 44-36, then Senior Vincent Taylor (Dallas, Texas) put the score at 46-38 in the final seconds.  Peru State added one free throw before time expired, and carried a 47-38 lead into the break.

Missouri Valley was held scoreless for a more than three minute stretch of play to start the second half, as PSC went on a 10-0 run after the restart to build up a 57-38 advantage.  Smith ended the drought for MVC, but the team eventually trailed, 60-40, with nearly five minutes played.  Junior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) scored the next four points for the Vikings, including a fast-break dunk off a Smith steal, but the team sat in a 60-44 deficit near the 14-minute mark.  A three-point from Lance worked the gap down to 66-51 two minutes later, followed by another three-pointer from Lance and a layup from Jones to make it a 73-56 score with just over eight minutes to play in the contest.  The Vikings were unable to trim their deficit down to single-digits through the rest of the game, and fell by a final score of 91-71.

Smith came off the bench to score 15 points to go with five assists and three steals.  Pauleon-Gerard added 12 points and five rebounds, while Lance totaled 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.  Missouri Valley came down with 17 offensive rebounds and forced seven steals.

The loss drops Missouri Valley to 11-13 overall and 10-10 in the Heart.  Peru State improves to 14-10 on the season and 10-10 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams host Central Methodist (Mo.), Wednesday, in a Heart doubleheader inside the Burns Athletic Complex.  Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.  The women's team earned a 95-93 win over the Eagles back on Jan. 3 in Fayette, Mo.

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About Missouri Valley College

Known for its dynamic, richly diverse, and friendly educational environment, Missouri Valley College offers many opportunities to grow in mind, body, and spirit. Grounded in the liberal arts, undergraduate studies empower students to master interdisciplinary skills needed to succeed in a knowledge-based global society. MVC offers over 30 academic programs, study abroad program, extracurricular activities, and a wide variety of sports. The most popular majors include education and business, criminal justice and exercise science. Above all, Valley is committed to student success. For more information, call (660) 831-4000 or visit www.moval.edu.