Men's Basketball Falls to Peru State on the Road

Peru, Neb., (Jan. 18, 2025)- The Missouri Valley College men's and women's basketball teams traveled to Peru, Neb., for a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader against Peru State (Neb.), Saturday afternoon. The women's team pulled away for an 84-71 victory, while the men's team fell to the Bobcats, 77-51.

The men's game started with Peru State taking an early lead, where Senior Cawhan Smith (Collinsville, Ill.) recorded four points and Senior J'Luan Patterson (Belleville, Ill.) made a layup to cut the deficit to 10-6 near the seven-minute mark. The Bobcats responded with a 7-0 run over the next three minutes to extend their lead to 17-8. As the Vikings were unable to cut into its deficit Peru State began to pull away from there, out to a 24-8 score with less than seven minutes to play in the half. Senior David Ajanaku (Ondo, Nigeria) ended the drought with a pair of free throws but the Vikings continued to struggle to put points on the scoreboard through the rest of the half, and Missouri Valley trailed at the break, 33-16.

The second half began with a basket from Cawhan assisted by Senior Keenan Jones (Chicago, Ill.) but the Bobcats added to their advantage, out to 44-20, after three-minutes of play. Patterson made the first three-pointer for the Vikings near the six-minutes mark, but the team eventually trailed, 53-23. Missouri Valley were unable to work back into the game in the fourth quarter, and eventually fell by a final score of 77-51.

Cawhan led with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Jones had eight points. Senior Geovonni Floyd (Bowling Green, Ky.) and Freshman James Porter (St. Louis, Mo.) came off the bench to score eight points. The team used 22 points off the bench in the game.

The men's team falls to 6-12 overall and 5-9 in the Heart, while Peru State improves to 16-3 on the season and 12-3 in the conference.

Up next, the Viking basketball teams travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa, for a Heart doubleheader with William Penn (Iowa), Wednesday. Women's game at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's game at 7:30 p.m.

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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.