The Peacock men’s basketball team opened the home portion of their 2010-11 Northern Sun Conference season tonight in Fayette. The #22 Mavericks of Minnesota State University, Mankato were Upper Iowa’s guests for the evening contest. In the end, MSU went on the final run in a game that ebbed and flowed from one team to the other.  Each team showed moments of domination, but the Mavericks took the final run to claim the victory, 87-72.

 

The Mavericks jumped all over the Peacocks early and led the game 15-4 after the first five minutes. Upper Iowa clawed back into the game over the next seven minutes as they outscored MSU 15-7 to pull within three, 22-19. Minnesota State continued the game of runs with one of their own pushing their lead back to double figures, 36-25, as the clock moved under four minutes to play in the half. The home team pushed back over the final minutes with a 9-3 run that closed the margin to five, 39-34, at the halftime horn.

 

MSU’s Marcus Hill led all scorers in the first half with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting, while the Peacocks had five players score at least four points. Mike Lafrenz and Sam Elgin each netted six off the bench to pace the UIU offense. Upper Iowa dominated the glass in the first half to the tune of a 21-13 advantage.

 

The teams came out of the break and played evenly over the first seven minutes. Upper Iowa shaved one point off the gap and trailed 57-53 with 13:04 on the clock. Minnesota State began to edge out to a ten-point lead over the next three minutes. Upper Iowa dug down and found one more rally in them thanks to a 7-0 run to pull back within three, 69-66, with just over five minutes to play. The UIU run was highlighted by five Peacock points that came just seconds apart. 

 

Minnesota State claimed the victory over the final five minutes of the game. The Mavericks outscored the home team 18-6 down the stretch to post the NSIC victory and improve to 8-1 on the season with the 87-72 final.

 

MSU shot 58% from the field in the game and added 19 points at the charity stripe, while UIU hit 48% of their attempts and 10 at the free throw line.

Hill led the Mavericks and all scorers with 25 points and 6 assists, while Cameron Hodges added 16 points for the visitors.

Dan Bestul led UIU with 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and a pair of steals.  Tucker Wentzien and Elgin each netted 11 points, while Matt Lesan put home nine.  Brad Arnold handed out 5 assists and Jake Hughes dished 4.