BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – Purdue University Calumet had a 19-18 lead early in the contest and trailed 39-31 at the end of the first half of Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference action Saturday against Olivet Nazarene University. But midway through the second half, the CCAC leading Tigers (21-9, 11-2) broke the game open on a 21-4 run leading to an 84-57 win.The Peregrine loss did not change the seeding for the CCAC tournament that begins Tuesday. PUC hosts a quarterfinal game against the University of Saint Francis (12-13, 5-7) beginning at 7 p.m. The two teams split head-to-head during the regular season with both winning road games.

On Saturday, the Peregrines (13-15, 6-6) kept the contest tight with just under 13 minutes left in the second half. Center Kevin Thomas (Highland), who lead all scorers with 18 points and also grabbed six rebounds, was deep in the lane when he took a pass from guard Steve Polak (Clark). Thomas spun outside and tapped the ball off the glass and was fouled on the shot. Thomas finished the 3-point-play with a free throw and brought the Peregrines to 47-44.

But over the course of the next six-plus minutes, the Peregrines could not get a shot from the field to fall. Olivet upped the ante from the 3-point arc and connected three times during its 21-4 run. Polak, who finished with five points and three steals, stopped the Peregrine dry spell from the field hitting his only field goal of the game with 6:06 remaining. The Tigers had a comfortable 68-48 lead that never was threatened.

PUC’s bench had to play more of a starting role with the absence of the team’s leading rebounder Charles Cruz who was resting an ankle sprain. Guard Lawrence Sandlin (Bishop Noll) was 4-of-7 from the field (57 percent) and finished with 11 points and five rebounds. Also at the guard position, sophomore Marcus Summers (Gavit) was an offensive and defensive spark in the first half. Summers hit three shots on three attempts for seven points at the half. He finished with nine points, four rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Both Polak and junior captain Minuyard Wheeler (Wirt) struggled from the field combining for 5-of-20. Wheeler finished with nine points, all in the first half. Wheeler also had five rebounds, three assists and two steals. The Peregrines shot 50 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes, but the dry spell in the second half contributed to an 8-for-24 success rate (33 percent) in the second half.