The Park University men's basketball program was in for a great game against Peru State College on Saturday and was another one possession game when it was all said and done. The Pirates came away on the winning side 72-70 in Breckon Sports Center.
This rematch from earlier in the year was a favorable ending for Park. The last meeting between these teams on December 7 ended in a two-point loss for Park in overtime, 93-91.
The 12-9 Pirates are 4-1 in their last five games with only one loss against No. 8 Baker. The Pirates still hold the No. 4 spot in the conference with an 11-6 Heart record, while Peru State remains one game ahead of Park at 12-5 and have a 16-5 overall record.
Tristan McRoberts opened the game with a mid-range jumper for the Pirates, but Peru State rattled off an 11-0 run through the first four minutes of the game. The senior
Jasigha Barnes broke through with a three-pointer that started the turnaround. Park would score 10 unanswered points, including an and-one by
Abubakar Kromah to take the lead at 12:57, 12-11. Late in the shot clock the Bobcats got a gift with a foul on a three-point attempt, leading to three made free-throws and the Bobcats led 14-12. An 8-0 run sprouted from that play and Park trailed 12-19 with 10:23 to go. Each side traded baskets, but a big three-pointer by
Tristan McRoberts at 7:50 helped Park get to a 23-21 deficit. Barnes showed up again with a made free-throw on a technical foul and then came back with a shot from deep to tie the game a 25-25. Barnes started a shooting contest with Peru State and the Bobcats matched Barnes as two more threes for Peru State and one more trey from Barnes pushed the score up to 34-33 Park with 3:26 to go. It would be a 5-2 run for Peru State that closed out the half, giving them the lead 38-36.
Out of the gate, Peru State extended the lead to five with a three-pointer in their first possession, 41-36. Park's two forwards,
Christian Bradford and
Jaden Robinson got involved for a 4-0 run, which was quickly upgraded to a 7-0 run after a Barnes three at the 17:59 mark, 43-41. Bobcats aided by a three, got back to a three-point lead after a 5-0 run through the next minute. Each side were getting hot four alternating layups and another lead change took place on a mid-range jumper by McRoberts through the first 4:30 of the second half for a one-point Pirate lead, 49-48. Peru State got it right back with another triple, but at this point the tide began to turn, as Bradford got in for a score in the paint and Kromah hit a three for a 54-51 advantage with 14:28 to go. Minutes later, Robinson and Kromah gave Park a 5-point lead on account of free-throws and a driving score at 11:52, 60-50. It continued to stay close, as Peru State briefly took back the lead at the 7:37 mark, but baskets by Robinson,
Gagi Gvalia, and Kromah reinstated a 69-64 lead for the Pirates with 5:36 to play. The scoring pace began to slow and only four field-goals were made under five minutes. Peru State made one last hurrah for the game with a 4-0 run to make it 69-68, but a costly turnover for Peru State set up Barnes perfectly for the biggest three-pointer of the night to extend Park to a 4-point lead with 1:24 left in the game, 72-68. Peru State had two more possessions in the game, a nice look from the distance rimmed out and in the last second on an in-bound pass, they were unable to get a shot off as Park held on to win, 72-70. Â
The Pirates shot 43.3-percent from the field, neck-and-neck with Peru State's 40-percent. From deep, both teams made seven threes, but the Pirates shot their highest three-point percentage of the season at 53.8-percent, or seven-of-13. The Bobcats also drained seven threes, but on 22 attempts.
The Pirates free-throw performance was a hair under that of Peru State at 13-of-19 compared to the Bobcats' 11-of-15.
Park had five more rebounds than their opponent and two more turnovers. The Bobcats turned those eight Pirate turnovers into eight points, while Park had five points on Bobcat turnovers.
Second chance points went in favor of Peru State with 12 compared to Park's six.
The lead never got above nine for either side and Park's largest lead was only by five in a game that had 11 lead changes and eight ties.
Kromah and Barnes were putting up major numbers for the Pirates with 24 and 22-point performances. Kromah used his vision to get six assists to his teammates and he also had six rebounds.
Barnes was the sparkplug from beyond the arc with a five-of-seven day for him.
Robinson was one rebound away from a double-double with 13 points. Bradford had eight rebounds to help his team's cause as well.
McRoberts was three-of-four on the day with seven points.
Four starters had a block in the game as well.
The Pirates will matchup next with MidAmerica Nazarene University on Wednesday, January 29 at 7:30pm. It is the Blackout Gazette Game, where Park fans are invited to wear black and bring newspaper. This also will be Faculty Appreciation Night!
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