NORTH NEWTON - Kansas Wesleyan's Caiden Punt flirted with a double-double and three teammates also scored in double figures, but it wasn't enough to overcome Peru State's white-hot shooting.
The Bobcats connected on 59 percent of their shots and defeated the Coyotes 89-69 in the Bethel College Classic on Thursday night inside Thresher Gymnasium.
Peru State (3-1) entered the game averaging 93 points and was coming off an 85-68 upset of third-ranked Georgetown (Ky.) on Saturday in Parkville, Mo.
The Bobcats took control of the game with a 15-2 first half run that gave them a 32-15 lead. A 7-0 spurt later in the half made it 41-23 and they led 50-28 at intermission.
Brandon Avedon's 3-pointer capped a 7-2 run that brought KWU (0-3) within 78-63 late in the second half but Peru State answered with a 9-4 surge that pushed the lead back to 20 (87-67).
Peru State was 37 of 63 from the field for the game, including 10 of 22 from 3-point range and got 30 points from the reserve players. The Coyotes shot 40 percent (22 of 55), were 6 of 18 from deep and had eight bench points.
Punt led Wesleyan with 22 points - 14 in the second half - and eight rebounds. Avedon finished with 14 points, four rebounds and three assists, Matthew Garber had 12 points and five rebounds and Gabe Phillips 11 points and four rebounds.
Peru State won the rebounding battle 29-27 and committed eight turnovers while the Coyotes had 12.
Everett Stubblefield paced the Bobcats with 27 points on 11 of 14 shooting, including 5 of 7 from beyond the arc. He scored 17 points in the second half. Ty Griggs and Denim Johnson scored 16 apiece.