Wildcats Rally Late for Thrilling 66-65 Comeback Victory at Peru State

PERU, Neb. - Baker men's basketball got a go-ahead stick-back from Cam Jones, followed by a game-sealing steal from Alex Gunnels to pull out a 66-65 victory on the road at Peru State on Wednesday night in a thrilling Heart clash.

While Jones' game-winner and Gunnels' swipe may have taken some of the spotlight, Myles Tucker's 23-point explosion in the second half fueled the rally for BU in its big comeback win after trailing by eight at halftime.

Peru State held an edge in most of the offensive categories, shooting slightly better overall (20-of-40) than BU (24-of-55), but held a significant advantage at the free-throw line. PSC made all but one of its 20 freebies in the game, while the Wildcats' free-throw woes continued with a 12-for-22 mark.

After being held to just three in the first half, Tucker ended up totaling a game-high 26 points, with a trio of second-half 3-pointers boosting his big night. On the flip side, Luke McDonald led the BU offense in the first half with all nine of his points coming in the first 20 minutes. Jones finished with eight points and eight rebounds.

The Bobcats came out hot to start the game, jumping out to a 14-2 lead through the first seven minutes of action. They continued to step on the gas and led by as much as 16 points before Baker started to chip its way back.

Ethan Viets converted a well-earned three-point play and then came through with a steal a little bit later to trigger a transition layup for McDonald. McDonald knocked down another jumper before Tucker's lone three of the first half helped BU trim the deficit to 24-18.

Baker's scoring would hit another lull down the stretch of the first half as jumpers by McDonald and Xavier McCord were the only field goals of the final five minutes for BU. Meanwhile, Peru State maintained its slight cushion to go into the locker room with a 32-24 halftime lead.

In the second half, Tucker got a clean look from deep just over a minute in and buried his second trey of the game, kickstarting his explosive half. Baker got within a possession a couple of times, but PSC was able to push the lead back out to six points before a three by Eli Obaseki pulled BU right back in at 40-37.

The Bobcats remained automatic at the line and used a three to build a 13-point lead with 11:36 left before BU mounted its big comeback charge. Jimmy Dorsey swished in a three and Lucas Lyons chipped in a bucket, but from there, Tucker scored 20 straight unanswered points for the Wildcats.

Tucker cut it to a four-point game with just over five minutes left before pulling BU all the way back within one with a 3-pointer to trim PSC's lead to 62-61 with 2:46 remaining. Tucker unleashed one from NBA distance to push Baker in front, 64-62, before the Bobcats came right back down and hit a three to retake the lead.

On BU's final offensive possession, a contested layup attempt from Tucker was cleaned up by Jones, whose second-chance put-back swung the lead back to Baker with 11 seconds left.

Then, Gunnels followed with the defensive play of the game, picking the pockets of a Bobcats player before they could even get a shot up to seal the incredible second-half comeback for the Wildcats.

With the victory, the Wildcats completed the season sweep over recent rival Peru State after winning, 80-70, in Baldwin City back in early December. The two teams met in the Heart Conference Tournament Championship a couple of years ago, where BU fell to the Bobcats after sweeping the regular-season series that year as well.

Up next, Baker will close out its three-game road swing with a cross-state trek to Missouri Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 7. Tipoff from St. Louis, Mo., is set for 4 p.m.

#BakerBuildsChampions