Joey Woods paced the Upper Iowa men’s basketball offense this past week averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. Despite reaching the semifinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament for the second consecutive year, Upper Iowa’s dreams of a championship came to an end on Saturday afternoon. The Dragons of MSU Moorhead – the top-seed in the NSIC-North – stifled a late UIU comeback as the Dragons led wire-to-wire to earn the 79-68 victory in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Woods scored a game-high 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting, but the loss ends the redshirt-senior’s career as a Peacock. His game-high 26 points ties a school record for most points scored in an NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament game. Woods also had a team-high 22 points this past Wednesday against Minnesota Duluth. In the opening round of the tournament, UMD took an early 22-point lead in the first half, but the home team scored 59 points and shot 66-percent in the second half to steal the 86-81 victory. Woods and Jimmy Roth both scored 14 points in the second half to lead the Peacock comeback.
Saturday’s loss to MSUM ends the Peacocks’ Cinderella season as UIU finishes the year with a 16-14 overall record. Despite being selected to finish 14th in the conference and 7th in the NSIC-South in the preseason coaches’ poll, UIU earned its second consecutive fourth place finish in the NSIC-South with a 13-9 conference record.
