Box Score It was apparent the two-week holiday layoff affected the Upper Iowa men’s basketball team negatively from the get-go of Friday night’s NSIC contest with visiting University of Sioux Falls. The Peacocks missed their first four shots which led to 20-8 Cougar lead ten minutes through the first period.
 
As the jitters faded, the UIU offense started to click as the Peacocks made trip after trip to the charity stripe. The ensuing 39 free throws propelled UIU to its fifth NSIC victory this season, 71-62, over the Cougars.
 
“Those of us who have been around six or seven years know this program’s come a long way to beat a team like this and play as sloppy as we did,” head coach Brian Dolan admitted.
 
That sloppy play led to an early hole for UIU. The Cougars’ Keaton Moffitt nailed a three-pointer with 9:35 remaining in the first half as USF jumped on UIU, 23-10.
 
A layup from Joey Woods and a three-point play from Jake Shonka cut that lead down to eight. Two minutes later, Grant Lang intercepted an inbounds pass underneath his own hoop and drained the layup.
 
In all, the Peacocks finished the first half on a 28-9 run and headed into the locker room with a 38-32 lead at the half.
 
“I don’t think we were dialed in,” Dolan said about his team’s start. “I think we were ready to play. I think we had the energy, but I’m not sure we had the mindset of what it was going to take to get the victory.”
 
The Peacocks extended their lead to nine points two different times to start the second period, but the Cougars kept clawing back into the game.
 
“I think that was their game-plan – to make it a knock-down, drag-out game,” Dolan said. “They obviously succeeded because they controlled the tempo, controlled the pace and controlled the style.”
 
The Peacocks, who shot 41 percent from the floor in the first half, made only four total field goals in the second period. But it was their free throw shooting that helped them earn the victory. UIU sank 23-of-27 total free throws in the second period to seal the 71-62 victory over USF.
 
Seniors Sam Elgin and Jake Hughes both finished with a team-high 16 points. 11 of Elgin’s 16 and 10 of Hughes’ 16 came from the charity stripe.
 
As a team, the Peacocks netted 39-of-47 free throws. You’d have to look back to 2009 to see numbers like that.
 
Hughes and Elgin – who took an elbow to the face early in the game – were just two of the many banged up players for UIU. Senior Tucker Wentzien saw just 11 minutes of action – his lowest total this season. The Solon, Iowa native had just three points on 1-of-4 shooting, but now sits just 41 points away from joining the 1,000-point club.
 
“He’s got a broken bone in his foot and he’s got an infection which he spent all day Wednesday getting fluid drained from his knee,” Dolan said of Wentzien. “Sam breaks his nose, Jake [Hughes] has the flu, Jake Shonka’s been in a boot all week – we were told four to five weeks on Monday, two to three weeks on Wednesday and now he’s playing tonight.”
 
Shonka was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe and was third on the team in scoring with 11 points, but the biggest story was the play of Wentzien’s and Shonka’s backup – Kierre Ogbonna.
 
The Brown Deer, Wisconsin native filled in for his injured teammates and provided a much-needed boost.
 
“Kierre is a spark and we’re excited to see him on the floor and see what he can do,” Dolan said. “He hasn’t played basketball competitively in a year and a half.”
 
Ogbonna finished with a career-high nine points, four rebounds – including two offensive boards – a steal and an assist.
 
“It’s Kierre’s fault that I’m mad at everybody,” Dolan said. “He outplayed everyone and he exposed our lack of effort.”
 
The win is the Peacocks’ ninth this season and fifth in the NSIC. UIU will play again on Saturday night as they host Southwest Minnesota State at Dorman Gym. Tip-off for that game is set for 8 p.m.
 
“We have a lot to work on before tomorrow night,” Dolan said.