The Upper Iowa men's basketball team closed out a four-game road stretch Saturday night when they visited Mankato, Minn. to entertain the #12-ranked Mavericks of Minnesota State University. The Peacocks looked poised to upset the highly ranked Mavericks by leading 38-24 at halftime, but Minnesota State found their stride in the second half and stole the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference victory from UIU, 69-59.

Matt Lesan capped off a 13-4 Upper Iowa run to open the contest with a three-point bucket to give UIU an early advantage with 14:02 remaining before halftime. The Peacocks allowed MSU to hang with them over much of the rest of the first half, however; UIU pushed their lead to double digits late in the first twenty minutes of action. Lesan poured in three points with just two minutes before halftime and Tucker Wentzien nailed a three-pointer with 45 seconds to play to give Upper Iowa a 38-26 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime.

Lesan and Wentzien each tallied 11 first-half points while Jake Hughes added eight. Upper Iowa shot an electric 14-of-22 (63.6) from the field in the first half and helped their cause by tallying an eight-for-nine effort from the charity stripe. UIU also outrebounded the Mavericks 19-8 in the first half but committed 13 turnovers to the home teams' six.

The Peacocks and Mavericks traded buckets through the first eleven minutes of the second half, but MSU used a 9-0 run in the next few minutes to pull back within one point, 53-52 with seven minutes left in regulation. The Maverick defense prevailed over the remainder of the game as Upper Iowa would take their final lead with a Sam Elgin jumper, 58-57 as their final field goal of the contest. Minnesota State went on a 12-1 run over the rest of the second half to take the matchup, 69-59.

Wentzien led UIU with 15 points on six-of-ten shooting while Lesan and Hughes each tallied 14 points. The road team's hot shooting from the first half didn't carry over as UIU made just six shots in the second half to put them at 40% for the game. MSU converted 21-of-53 shots (39.6%) but made nine more free throw attempts than UIU. The home team also took advantage of second chance points by outscoring UIU 16-5 in those situations.

Marcus Hill led the Mavericks with 22 points.

The Peacocks open a three-game home stand next Friday when the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul visit Dorman Gym in Fayette. Tip off is set for 8 p.m.