Records

Upper Iowa (3-6, 1-2 NSIC) | Concordia-St. Paul (3-4, 0-3 NSIC)

Recap

The Peacock men's basketball team withstood a wild finish in St. Paul, Minnesota tonight to earn their first Northern Sun Conference victory of the season, 88-87.

After erasing an eight-point deficit in the first half to take a six-point lead late in the game. UIU needed the ten straight free throws they made in the closing minutes to hold on for the one-point win though. Concordia forced a pair of turnovers in the full court and converted them into points to make up ground and trailed by just three with the ball and under ten seconds to play. UIU forced an inside shot from the Golden Bears and held on against one final desperation full court heave to edge their hosts.

Grant Lang and Joey Woods combined for the first five points of the game for UIU and foreshadowed how important their offense would be on the night. Lang netted 22 points and Woods added 18 to lead the Peacock offense that shot 45.3% (29-64) from the floor including 9 three-pointers.

UIU led 16-11 early on, but the Golden Bears took control of the remainder of the first half moving out to a 30-23 lead thanks to a six-minute stretch in which they outscored their guests 19-7. CU did push their advantage to eight points on a couple occasions, but settled for a four-point lead, 47-43, at half when Lang poured in a trifecta with four seconds to play in the half.

The Golden Bears led 55-47, but a 9-1 run by the Peacocks fueled by scores of four different players and capped off by a jumper from Bo Pagel to tie the score at 56-56 just four and a half minutes later.

Upper Iowa kept the pressure on and moved out to a 68-63 lead after Lang and Woods combined yet again for back-to-back buckets. The visitor's lead grew to its largest margin of six points on several occasions, but Concordia was always quick to rally and pull within one. The Peacocks did not relinquish their lead though and a follow-up by freshman Josh Weeber gave Upper Iowa a three-point lead, 75-72, with four minutes to play. After a pair of scoreless minutes, Weeber knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key after David Smith drove into the paint pushing the UIU advantage back to six, 78-72, with 2:15 on the clock.

With just over a minute to play, freshman Jimmy Roth began a streak of ten straight made free throws by the Peacocks including two for Roth, two from Jace Hanna and six from Lang.

While Upper Iowa was hitting at the charity stripe, the Golden Bears continued to pour in points on their end and cut the margin from six to one in just four seconds thanks to a three-pointer, a UIU turnover and a quick lay-in with six seconds to play.

After Lang hit the final two free throws for UIU, Concordia cut the lead back to one point with less than a second on the clock. Upper Iowa survived a final desperation heave to earn the victory, 88-87.

UIU Standouts

Lang… 22 points | Woods… 18 points, 4 assists | Weeber… 13 points, 5 rebounds | Roth… 11 points, 8 rebounds

Next Up

Upper Iowa will return to Dorman Gym next weekend to host Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday, Dec. 13, at 8 p.m. and the University of Sioux Falls on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 6 p.m.