REC CENTER — For 19 minutes and 46 seconds of the first half, the Peregrines had a lead over the conference-leading Wolves giving the home crowd energy. But when Wolves guard Pat Barron hit a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the half it ignited the Cardinal Stritch University offense that scored 61 in the second 20 minutes leading to the 98-78 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference win.

The Peregrines opened the game on a 6-0 run and built the lead to eight, 26-18, when senior Kris Krstevski hit his first 3-pointer of the night. But the Wolves closed the half with a 19-9 run of their own taking a 37-35 lead into the locker room.

Four-and-a-half minutes into the second half, the Wolves (20-7 overall, 10-2 CCAC) pushed the lead to double digits hitting four of their first five shots. The Peregrines’ offense struggled out of the intermission connecting on 2-of-9 (22 percent) through the first seven minutes and never got hot enough to match the Wolves.

Sophomore Michael Patton (Gary West Side) nabbed his first double double of the season grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds, while scoring a dozen points. Patton leads the CCAC averaging 8.4 rebounds per game and leads the Peregrines with a 7.7 rpg average.

Junior Antonio McNeal (Hammond Gavit) led the Peregrines in scoring with 18 hitting 66 percent from the field. McNeal leads the Peregrines averaging 12.9 points per game and ranks eighth in the CCAC with a 14 point average. 

Off the bench, sophomore Antonio Hurt (Michigan City) scored 14 hitting 60 percent from the field, grabbed four rebounds, had three swipes and a pair of shot blocks. Hurt is the team’s second leading scorer averaging 11.5 per game.

Krstevski (Lake Central) finished with 10 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Krstevski, Kevin Thomas (Highland) and Vince Johnson (Bishop Noll) were all honored in pre-game ceremonies on Senior Day. Thomas added six points and six rebounds and Johnson scored nine points and had five rebounds before fouling out of the contest.

PUC heads to Michigan City this Saturday at 2 p.m. to battle sister school Purdue North Central (2-26, 0-11) for the final regular season game for both teams. The Peregrines (3-24, 3-8) beat the Panthers, 67-64, in their first conference meeting last month.