REC CENTER – Painting by numbers, the Peregrines chose the number 20 and converted each of those 20 attempts in the lane to dominate the inside game. Controlling the paint helped the Peregrines (7-5) finish with a 76-71 win against Brescia University (6-9) in front of a rowdy crowd.PUC more than doubled its opponent’s output under the rim scoring 40 points compared to just 18 for the Bearcats for the game. While the Peregrines used their inside strength on the offensive end, the Bearcats racked up 30 points from the 3-point arc. They hit 50 percent of their three’s in the first half, but shot only 26 percent from the arc in the second half as the PUC defense closed out quicker around the 3-point stripe hampering Brescia’s shooting performance.

Senior captain Minuyard Wheeler (Wirt) led all scorers with 21 points, including seven in the final four minutes of action, and shot 60 percent from the field in the win. Wheeler also had four assists and one steal.

When Wheeler wasn’t scoring on the inside, teammates Charles Cruz (Gavit) and Vince Johnson (Bishop Noll) picked up the slack. Cruz finished with 17 points hitting 53 percent from the field, and he grabbed four rebounds. Johnson led all scorers at the half with a dozen. The junior swingman finished the night with 16 points shooting 54 percent from the field, which included two thunderous dunks in the second half, one blocked shot in the first and eight rebounds overall leading both squads.

Junior guard Steve Polak was the fourth Peregrine to enjoy a double digit scoring night. Polak connected on three 3-point baskets in the first 20 minutes and finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds in the win. Point guard Marcus Ford added seven more assists to his team high 46 on the season (3.8 per game). The senior also added six points to the offense.

On the offense, PUC shot 59 percent from the field in the second half and finished hitting 50 percent of its shots for the contest compared to Brescia’s 45 percent. PUC had a slight edge scoring 11 points off Brescia turnovers, while the Bearcats scored seven points on PUC turnovers.

The men host Taylor University (8-7) next Tuesday beginning at 7 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for this Saturday.