Jan. 3, 2009
Final Stats
The Upper Iowa men's basketball team played host to the #19 Wolves of Northern State. The two teams played a physical battle throughout their forty minutes of action. Northern State opened the game with very aggressive defense which led to a 29-11 lead with 6:40 to play in the half. Upper Iowa found their stride over the remainder of the half as they outscored the Wolves 13-5. The Peacocks headed to the locker room trailing 34-24. In the half, UIU grabbed an 18-11 advantage on the boards, but 13 turnovers slowed the UIU attack.
The Peacocks continued to outplay the Wolves as the second half began. The men in blue outscored the #19 team in the country 27-17 over the first thirteen minutes. A.J. Adkins hit a game-tying three, 51-51, with just over seven minutes to play. After the UIU rally, the home team's offense slowed a bit. Fortunately, the Peacock defense held up allowing only five points by the Wolves. When the clock ticked under four minutes to play, Northern State led 56-51. A pair of free throws from Kyle Schwan with 3:16 to play put the Wolves ahead 58-51. After another NSU free throw, Adkins broke the Peacock drought with two at the charity stripe to pull UIU within six, 59-53, with 2:15 to play. Northern State made it a 60-53 game with another free throw, but Mark Lafrenz was able to erase the point with a free throw of his own to the cut the margin back to six, 60-54. The Peacocks made it a five-point game, 61-56, with 22 seconds to play on a lay up by Nick Kramer.
Northern State pushed their lead back to seven points, 63-56, with two more free throws, but Nick Kramer was able to keep hope alive for the home crowd with a bucket to make the score, 63-58, with 8 ticks on the clock. Upper Iowa would not come any closer though. Northern State took the victory 63-58. With the win, Head Coach Don Meyer has tied Bobby Knight for the most wins in the history of men's college basketball with 902.
The Peacocks were led by Nick Kramer, who poured in 17 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. Adkins netted 11 points and handed out 3 assists. In the end, the Peacocks' twenty turnovers proved to be too much to overcome.
The Peacocks (2-10, 1-5 NSIC) will now travel to southern Minnesota for their next two Northern Sun Conference games. Upper Iowa will play the Mavericks of Minnesota State on Friday and the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday. Both games will tip off at 8 p.m.
