Dec. 31, 2007

Box Score

The Peacock men's basketball team earned their first victory of the season on Sunday afternoon. The Peacocks traveled to Indiana to face the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City in their final non-conference match up of the season. Upper Iowa avenged an early season defeat to the Oaks thanks to a hot-shooting second half performance.

Upper Iowa trailed by four at halftime, 38-34. The Peacocks shot 34% (12-28) in the first including seven three-pointers, while the Oaks hit on 52% of their shots (13-25) but only two three-pointers. The home team took advantage of 10 of 15 shooting at the charity stripe to claim their small margin on the scoreboard.

The Peacocks offense got loose in the second half and the defense tightened up on the Oaks' shooters. Upper Iowa outscored Oakland City 43-29 in the second stanza to win the game 77-67. The visitors shot 55% (12-22) in the half and netted another five trifectas. The home squad only managed 31% (11-36) including a cold-shooting 3 for 17 from behind the arc. The Peacocks second half advantage was also fueled at the free throw line as they shot 14 of 19, while the Oaks made only 4 of 7 chances.

Matt Lesan led UIU in scoring with 17 points, while Chandler Adams sparked the offense off the bench with 12 points in just eleven minutes. Storm Schmitt and A.J. Adkins also came off the bench to jump start the offense with 9 points apiece. In total, Upper Iowa's bench scored 42 of the team's 77 points on the afternoon.

The Peacocks outrebounded the Oaks by six, 39-33. Leading the way for the visitors was Schmitt with 7, Chris Sullivan grabbed 6 boards, and Alex Kramer and Dan Bestul each pulled down 5. Jude Roybal dished out 7 assists to set up the offense.

Upper Iowa will now prepare for their Northern Sun Conference home openers this weekend. The Peacocks will face the Wildcats of Wayne State on Friday, Jan. 4, and the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, Jan. 5. Both games are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. and will follow the women's game.