Jan. 12, 2009

Final Stats

Recap written by Southwest Minnesota State Sports Information.

MARSHALL, MINN. - Southwest Minnesota State used a balanced scoring effort with seven players scoring at least seven points and the Mustangs committed a season-low five turnovers to earn an 80-57 Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory over Upper Iowa on Saturday night in Marshall. SMSU improves to 11-5 overall and 4-3 NSIC, while UIU drops to 2-12 overall, 1-7 NSIC.

The Mustangs scored the first three points of the game and never trailed as they opened an 11-point lead with 3:32 left in the first half before taking a 33-26 halftime lead. SMSU shot just 31.3 percent in the opening half and was outrebounded 18 to 15, but the Mustangs committed just one turnover in the half and forced UIU into 11 turnovers, leading to 13 Mustang points.

Upper Iowa cut the Mustang lead to 33-28 in the opening seconds of the second half, but SMSU answered back with a 9-4 run in the next three and a half minutes to build a 42-32 lead with just under 16 minutes left in the game.

SMSU held a 44-36 lead with 14 minutes left in the contest before the Mustangs put the game away with a 10-2 run in the next two and a half minutes to extend the lead to 54-38 with 11:30 left in the game and pulled away to earn its second win over Upper Iowa this season. SMSU defeated UIU 80-62 earlier this season in a non-conference game in Sioux Falls, S.D.

--------------------------

Nick Kramer led Upper Iowa with 12 points on 6 of 8 shooting. Dan Bestul and Alex Kramer also reached double figure scoring with 10 points apiece. Matt Lesan, Nick Kramer, and Chris Sullivan all pulled down 4 rebounds for the Peacocks.

The Peacocks will travel to two more NSIC road games this coming weekend. Upper Iowa will play the Vikings of Augustana College on Friday night and the Wildcats of Wayne State College on Saturday night. Both games are scheduled to tip at 8 p.m. after the women's game.