Peru, Neb. - The Central Methodist Men's Basketball team fell to the defending Heart Tournament Champion, Peru State College, 84-72, Saturday afternoon in Peru, Neb. 

Central now stands at 12-13 and 9-11 in the Heart of America, while Peru improves to 19-6 and 15-6 in conference action. 

CMU saw themselves trailing by nine points at the halftime break. However, Central started the second half fast, going on a 6-0 scoring run to cut the deficit to 38-35. 

Peru responded with an 8-0 scoring run to extend their lead to 11. But CMU continued to battle, coming within two following a three-point basket from Destin Jenkins at the 13:26 mark of the second half. 

A layup by Marcus Anthony brought Central within one of Peru at 52-51 two minutes later. 

The turning point in the game came when the Bobcats went on a 20-6 scoring run over a six minute span, taking a 15 point lead over the Eagles.

Central was unable to rally over the final five minutes, as Peru went on to earn a 12-point win. 

Jenkins led CMU in scoring with 24 points while also adding six rebounds, three assists, and a block. Brandon Tchouya followed with 13 points while Anthony chipped in 11. 

Thomas Sowoolu rounded out Central's double-digit scorers with 10 points. Kai Jordan nearly cracked double figures with nine points in 25 minutes of play. 

The difference in the game proved to be on the glass, as Central was outrebounded by Peru, 40-26, which included 13 offensive rebounds and resulted in 18 second chance points. 

Central will look to bounce back as they return home to host Park University Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. inside Puckett Field House. 

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