No. 6 Baker Falls at Peru State, 73-63 for First Setback of Conference Play

PERU, Neb. - After moving up to No. 6 in the latest NAIA Top-25 poll that was released earlier in the day, No. 6 Baker men's basketball suffered its first setback of the Heart of America season, falling to Peru State, 73-63 on the road Wednesday night.

A hot start from the Wildcats quickly fizzled out in the first half as they trailed by double digits at the midway point. BU put up a strong fight in the second half, but had its comeback bid come up short and saw its NAIA-best, 16-game winning streak come to an end.

Noah Rigatuso led a BU offense that struggled to score in Peru, Neb. with 20 points. Ahmed Mahgoub was the only Wildcats player to have some success from behind-the-arc, hitting three treys and finishing with 13 points. Ty Henry reached double figures as well with 11 points.

With a 23-point win in their first meeting against the Bobcats this season, the Wildcats looked to be in the driver's seat yet again in this one, jumping out to a 16-7 lead through the first five minutes of play.

Henry, Mahgoub and Rigatuso each provided the early scoring with a three by Henry putting Baker on the scoreboard first. Rigatuso chipped in a couple of layups and Mahgoub splashed one in from three to make it a 16-7 lead for BU at the 14:08 mark.

From there, Peru State swung the advantage emphatically over to its side and went on a devastating 28-7 run to close out the rest of the first half. The Bobcats hit four threes during the run and held Baker to just one field goal in the final 14 minutes of the half to go into halftime with a 35-23 lead.

A three from Mahgoub lit a quick spark for the 'Cats in the second half as Rigatuso and Quentin Harvey both followed with easy buckets to pull Baker within five points. Rigatuso connected on one from deep to erase the double-digit deficit and make it a two-point ballgame just five minutes into the half.

The two teams traded baskets for a brief moment before the Bobcats buried a couple of threes to keep it at a six-point distance. They built their lead back out to double digits and held a 65-50 advantage with just over three minutes left to play.

Baker mounted a strong rally though with another triple from Mahgoub bringing them within single digits. Harvey got a second-chance bucket to fall to make it an eight-point game with over a minute left, but the Bobcats were able to hold on from there and come away with the upset, 73-63.

Closing out their four-game road stretch, the Wildcats will look to bounce back at Grand View on Saturday, February 1 with tipoff set for 4 p.m. in Des Moines, Iowa.

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