The Upper Iowa Men’s Basketball team hosted the 2010-11 home opener Saturday afternoon by welcoming the Hawks of Quincy University to Dorman Gym in Fayette for a non-conference clash.  The Hawks led for all but the first minute and seven seconds of the game as they won the contest, 74-61.

Quincy opened a 12-point lead on three separate occasions during the first 11 minutes of action but the Peacocks fought back in the closing minutes of the first half when senior Matt Lesan made a pair of free throws to cut the Hawk advantage to five, 30-25 with 3:15 remaining before halftime.  The road team extended their lead back to nine before the break, but UIU chipped away in the final minute and headed into the halftime break down six points, 37-31.

Senior Dan Bestul paced the Peacocks at the halftime break with six points while Tucker Wentzien added five.  Quincy shot 46.4% (13-28) from the field in the first half while UIU managed a 39.3% (11-28) clip from the field which included just 2-of-12 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.  The home team outrebounded QU 19-13 through the first 20 minutes of action.

The two squads played even through the first ten minutes of the second half before Quincy started to slowly extend their lead and took a 20-point lead with 6:41 to play in regulation.  Upper Iowa managed an 11-2 run over the next four minutes but fell short as Quincy won the game, 74-61.

Bestul led the Peacocks with 17 points on six-of-ten shooting while Wentzien added 10 and Lesan chipped in nine.  Upper Iowa also outrebounded the road team 32-30, while committing three more turnovers.

The Peacocks will be back in action next Friday night when they travel to St. Paul, Minn. to battle Academy of Art, a NCAA Division II institution from San Francisco, California.  The matchup is set for 5 p.m. inside the Gangelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul.