Feb. 28, 2009
Final Stats
The Peacock men's basketball team visited Concordia University in St. Paul, Minnesota on Saturday night for their final game of the 2008-09 campaign. Concordia entered the game knowing that they had locked up the #8 seed in the upcoming conference tournament, while Upper Iowa came in looking for a win to close out their season. The Peacocks scored 91 points in the game; the most points they've put up in a game all season. However, the Golden Bears were able to still notch the NSIC victory thanks to their 101 points.
After the first three minutes of action, the home team had a slim, one-point lead, 10-9, but that would be the last lead for the Golden Bears in the first half. With the score tied at 15-15, Upper Iowa opened up a gap between the teams thanks to a 17-3 run. The Peacocks took their largest lead of the half, 32-18, fueled by three trifectas; Matt Lesan hit two of the three long balls. CU answered the UIU run with one of their own. The Golden Bears clawed back within five points, 34-29, after a short 11-2 run. Upper Iowa and Concordia traded baskets as the first half wound down. The Peacocks claimed a nine-point halftime lead, 54-45, when Lesan's fourth three-pointer found the bottom of the net with just four seconds on the clock.
Upper Iowa hit 8 of their 10 three point attempts and out rebounded Concordia 18-8 in the first half. The visitors were led by Lesan's 14 points, as well as 10 points from Nick Kramer and 12 from Dan Bestul. The three Peacocks combined to make 14 of their 21 shots (67%) including 6 of 8 from behind the arc.
In the second half, Concordia's Matt Cadwell was more than Upper Iowa could handle. The Golden Bear guard, who scored the first 10 points of the game for the home team, continued to torch the nets and scored 26 of his game-high 46 points in the second half.
The Peacocks did their best to keep pace with the fast-paced home team, but 10 UIU turnovers and a big CU advantage in free throws led to the loss. Concordia took the lead, 60-58, at the 15:39 mark on the scoreboard. The home team spent the next nine minutes building their lead to ten, 84-74. Upper Iowa made one last push that saw the visitors cut the margin to five with just over two minutes to play, but a pair of three-pointers and five of six shooting at the line gave CU the 101-91 NSIC win.
Bestul led four Peacocks that scored in double figures. Bestul netted 21 points on 9 of 13 shooting, while Nick Kramer added 18, Lesan chipped in 17, and Alex Kramer tallied 10. Alex Kramer also pulled down 6 rebounds to lead UIU on the boards. Both seniors, Nick Kramer and Storm Schmitt (8 points, 4 rebounds), played their final game in Peacock blue.
Upper Iowa's season comes to an end with an overall record of 5-22 and a Northern Sun Conference record of 4-16. The Peacocks finished in thirteenth place in the NSIC.
