Feb. 24, 2010
Box Score
The Peacock Men's Basketball team closed the book on the 2009-10 road season Wednesday evening by visiting Winona, Minn. for a matchup with the Winona State University Warriors inside McCown Gymnasium. Turnovers plagued UIU throughout much of the contest as Winona State took the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference matchup, 66-58.
The Warriors jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Peacocks got on the board with 12:59 remaining before halftime on a Dan Bestul layup. After four more points by WSU, the Peacocks went on a 6-0 run to pull back within three, 11-8, thanks to four points by Alex Kramer and a fastbreak layup by Jake Hughes.
Following a Warrior time out, the Peacocks played even with the home team until throughout the remainder of the first half. However, in the closing minutes of the first half, UIU allowed WSU to extend their lead to eight twice and the Warriors took a 37-29 lead into the halftime break.
Hughes led the visitors at halftime with eight points on four-of-five shooting while Tucker Wentzien grabbed a team-high five boards. The Peacocks shot 50% (13-26) from the floor in the first half of action while Winona State shot 45.2% (14-31) but made an extra three point basket. Upper Iowa also held a slim 17-15 rebounding margin but were forced into seven more turnovers which Winona State turned into eight points.
While the Warriors extended their lead to 15 early on in the second half, the Peacocks wouldn't let the lead get any larger, however; the Peacocks couldn't get any closer than nine on two occasions. This was until the Peacocks cut it to eight points with 1:52 to play when Chris Sullivan made a nice up-and-under move for a layup, then just second later the Peacocks cut WSU's lead to six after Alex Kramer made a pair of free throws to make the score 62-56 in favor of the home team, with 1:06 to play in regulation.
However, for the Peacocks, they wouldn't be able to get any closer and dropped the contest, 66-58.
Hughes led UIU with 17 points on seven-of-nine shooting from the floor while Matt Lesan and Brad Arnold each tallied seven. UIU shot 46.8% (22-47) in the loss which included a 7-for-17 clip from beyond the three-point arc. The visitors committed 21 turnovers compared to WSU's six while outrebounding Winona State, 35-25.
With the loss, Upper Iowa drops to 11-15 on the season and 8-11 in NSIC play while Winona State improves to 18-8 and 12-7 in the league.
The Peacocks will be back on the floor Saturday, Feb. 27 to close out the 2009-10 season when they host the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul inside Dorman Gym in Fayette. Tipoff is slated for 4 p.m.
