Dec. 5, 2008

Final Stats

The Peacocks men's basketball team played host to the Golden Bears of Concordia University, St. Paul to Dorman Gym on Friday night for the first Northern Sun Conference game of the 2008-09 season. Both teams entered the game with identical 1-4 records. The Peacocks used a five point advantage on the free throw line to claim a one-point halftime lead despite the Golden Bears shooting 52% in the opening half. Concordia raced away from Upper Iowa in the second half thanks to 63% shooting compared to the home teams' 36%. The Golden Bears won the game 76-68. With the loss, Upper Iowa fell to 1-5 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC, while Concordia improved to 2-4 overall and 1-0 in conference action.

In the early minutes, the Golden Bears took a slight four-point lead, 12-8, thanks to a pair of lay ups and a pair of three-pointers while the Peacocks countered with three layups and a jumper. As the half moved under ten minutes, Upper Iowa tied the game at 17 thanks to a three-pointer by freshman Mark Lafrenz. UIU took a two-point lead on two Chris Sullivan free throws. However, by the time the clock showed 4:15, CU moved back out to a six-point lead, 29-23. The Peacocks refocused their attack and went on an 11-4 run over the final three and a half minutes. The run was fueled by Matt Lesan, who scored nine of the Peacock points to close out the half. Upper Iowa went to the locker room with a 34-33 lead.

The Peacocks and Golden Bears played evenly through the first eight and a half minutes of the second half. The lead changed hands four times and was tied, 49-49, with 11:29 to play. The visitors went on a 13-0 run over the next four minutes fueled by Matt Cadwell's nine points. Upper Iowa tried to rally, but CU kept the pressure on and pushed their lead to eighteen points, 74-56, with just over two minutes to play. The Peacocks outscored their opponents by ten over the final minutes to cut the margin to eight, but fell on the night, 76-68.

The Golden Bears were led by Sammy Ricks (20 points, 9 rebounds), Craig Heiman (15 points, 4 assists), Thomas Basset (11 points, 7 rebounds), and Mike Cunningham (3 points, 5 rebounds, 9 assists).

Upper Iowa was led by Matt Lesan, who scored 15 points, Dan Bestul, who notched 13 points, and Nick Kramer, who tallied 12 points. Lesan added 6 assists on the night. A.J. Adkins led the UIU rebounding effort with 6 boards.

The Peacocks will be back in Dorman gym tomorrow night. UIU will host the Huskies of St. Cloud State. St. Cloud is one of the four new schools in the fourteen-member Northern Sun Conference. The Peacocks and Huskies will tip off following the women's game at approximately 8 p.m.