Nov. 29, 2008
Final Stats
The Peacock men's basketball team dominated the Beavers of Bemidji State on the glass in their opening game of the Northern Sun Conference Holiday HoopsFest to win their first game of the season. Upper Iowa raced out to a 41-21 lead at halftime thanks to 53% shooting and a 19-13 advantage in rebounding. The Beavers cut the lead to twelve points with 4:05 to play, but the Peacocks had too much fuel in the reserve as Coach Dolan's troops turned up the heat to win the game by sixteen, 84-68. UIU improved to 1-3 on the season, while BSU dropped to 1-2.
After trailing 7-2 in the early minutes, Upper Iowa went on a 22-2 run over six minutes to race out to a 24-9 lead. The run included four Peacock trifectas, two by Dylan Diedrich. A.J. Adkins dropped seven points during the run that staked the men in blue to a fifteen-point lead midway through the first half. The UIU offense went cold over the next few minutes and BSU was able to creep back and cut the deficit to nine points, 15-24, with 7:31 to play in the half. Upper Iowa, however, refocused and outplayed Bemidji State over the final seven minutes outscoring the Beavers 17-6 to open up a huge twenty-point lead at halftime. The Peacocks took advantage of a 17-2 margin in points off turnovers and an 8-2 advantage in second chance points.
Upper Iowa got an old-fashioned three-point play from Matt Lesan to open their second half scoring. The Peacocks were able to increase their lead by a point over the first five minutes, 57-35. With UIU leading 74-54 at the 5:55 mark, Bemidji State made one last-gasp effort to rally. BSU went on a 9-1 run led by two Brady Fairbanks' three-pointers. The Beavers cut the margin to just twelve points, 75-63, with four minutes to play. Lesan got back into the game after catching a breather and led Upper Iowa back out to an 82-65 lead with just over a minute to play after scoring seven consecutive points for UIU.
For the game, the Peacocks out rebounded the Beavers 34-21 including an 11-3 advantage in offensive rebounds. The extra offensive boards translated into a 12-2 advantage in second chance points. While both teams turned the ball over may than they would have liked, it was Upper Iowa that took advantage of the Beaver mistakes outscoring BSU 24-8 in points off turnovers.
Matt Lesan scored 31 points to lead the Peacocks to their first victory of the season. Lesan hit 11-of-15 shots and 7-of-8 free throws. The sophomore also handed out 6 assists on the night. Dylan Diedrich (16) and AJ Adkins (11) were the other Peacocks in double figures. Dan Bestul led the UIU glass cleaning committee with 5 boards, while three players recorded double figure rebounds.
UIU will return to the Elmen Center in Sioux Falls, S.D. tomorrow afternoon. The Peacocks will face the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State at 3 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
