Dec. 2, 2007
Northern State Box Score
U-Mary Box Score
The Peacock men's basketball team took to the road this past weekend for their first Northern Sun Conference action of the season. UIU traveled to Aberdeen, South Dakota for a Friday night match up with the Wolves of Northern State University and to Bismarck, North Dakota for a Saturday bout with the Marauders of the University of Mary. The Peacocks come into the NSIC season having been voted as the number nine team in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, while the Wolves and Marauders were voted second and seventh, respectively.
On Friday, the Peacocks took the floor versus the undefeated Wolves. Northern State took an early lead 7-0, but Upper Iowa found their stride and played even with the home team through the first eight minutes of the game. The Peacocks trailed 15-10 with 11:43 on the clock. The Wolves put the visitors in a large hole at halftime by outscoring them 27-11 over the remainder of the half. The teams went to the locker rooms with Northern State on top 42-21.
The Peacocks and Wolves played evenly throughout the second half. UIU was led by freshman Alex Kramer in the second twenty minutes as the Nashua-Plainfield prep scored 8 points with a rebound and a steal. Matt Lesan scored five of his team-high 10 points in the second half. Northern State won the game 77-52.
After Lesan's 10 points and Kramer's 8 points, the Peacocks got 5 points each from Marcus Uhlenhopp, Neil Gross, and A.J. Adkins. Nick Kramer pulled down 5 boards, while Chris Sullivan grabbed 4. Jude Roybal handed out 3 assists.
On Saturday, Upper Iowa met U-Mary on the court. The two teams lit up the scoreboard combining for 174 points on the night. The two teams played evenly throughout the game with neither defense able to slow the offenses down. The Peacocks and Marauders both shot over 50% from the floor and the three-point line. UM shot 54% from the floor, 53% from three, and 76% from the free throw line, while UIU shot 51% from the field, 60% from behind the arc, and 79% from the charity stripe.
The Peacocks came up on the short end of the score due to two key Marauder runs. Upper Iowa trailed by just two, 28-26 with 8:05 left in the first, when U-Mary on a 13-4 streak to build an 11-point lead. Upper Iowa was able to cut back into the lead and trailed 49-42 at halftime. In the second half, Upper Iowa found themselves down 66-58 with 13:23 to play in the game, but the Marauders went on an 11-2 run that gave the Marauders their biggest lead of the day, 77-60, with just over 10 minutes to play in the game. The Peacocks made a final charge outscoring the Marauders 22-15 over the final ten minutes and cut the deficit to five points with three minutes to play, but lost the game 92-82.
Lesan led the Peacocks in scoring for the second straight game pouring in 18 points, while Adkins and Uhlenhopp also netted double figures in scoring with 10 points each. Alex Kramer pulled down 6 rebounds, while Uhlenhopp grabbed 5 boards. Roybal dished out 6 assists while adding nine points.
Upper Iowa will travel to St. Cloud, Minnesota to take the court against future NSIC-foe St. Cloud State. The Peacocks and Huskies will tip off at 7:00 p.m. this Tuesday night, Dec. 5.
