Box Score  
DULUTH, MN – The drama never ends with the Upper Iowa men’s basketball team this season. After taking No. 9 Winona State and No. 20 Minnesota State, Mankato down to the final play of regulation, the University of Minnesota Duluth found itself down by one with just 7.5 seconds remaining and one final attempt to knock off the Peacocks in Duluth.

The Bulldogs made it all the way to the hoop, but after shooting over 70 percent in the first half, UMD failed to make the one shot that would have won them the game as time expired and the Peacocks earned the 70-69 NSIC victory.

With the win, the Peacocks improve to 16-7 overall this year and 12-5 in conference play. The Bulldogs, on the other hand, fall to 5-16 overall and 3-14 in the NSIC.

“They’re a very talented basketball team and they didn’t surprise me at all tonight,” Head Coach Brian Dolan said. “What surprised me was the way we failed to show up in the first half.”

The Peacocks, who are just 2-7 this season when trailing at the half, trailed by as much as eleven in the opening period and were down by ten points at the break, 42-32.

Their confidence never faltered.

“We have a handful of seniors and a handful of juniors and they understand the grind,” Dolan said. “That grind is hard on your body. We gave these kids two days off this week, which I’ve never done in seven years here, but we looked really tired against Northern State and I thought we needed to be fresh down the stretch.”

After a slow start against Northern State at home last Saturday, the Peacocks did not start Friday's game against the Bulldogs the way they wanted to. UIU missed its first three shots, while UMD jumped out to a 7-0 lead thanks to perfect 5-of-5 shooting .

Actually, the Bulldogs hardly missed a shot in the opening half.

UMD was 14-of-19 in the first half (73.68%), including Brett Ervin’s 6-of-7 shooting and 2-of-2 shooting from deep for a team-high 17 points in the first period.

On the other side of the ball, the Peacocks' Grant Lang matched Ervin’s hot shooting with 11 points of his own on 4-of-5 shooting. Lang hit one of his three first-half three-pointers at the 10:22 mark to pull UIU within two, 22-20. Cedric Collins then tied the game less than a minute later with a baseline drive and layup off the glass.

“I love Ced’s energy,” Coach Dolan said. “He always comes off the bench and provides us with a big spark.”

After working with multiple combinations and 12 different players in the first half, Dolan found himself calling upon Joey Woods – who was playing off the bench for the first time this season – more often than not. The redshirt-junior finished with a team-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Wood had nine of those points in the first half, but the Bulldogs still finished the first half on a 20-10 run and took a 10-point lead into halftime, 42-32.

“The difference between the first half and the second was our heart,” Dolan said. “We played with a lot more heart in the second half and that’s why we were able to get out of here with a win.”

As time crept by in the second half, the Peacocks slowly chipped away at the Bulldogs’ lead. Jake Hughes started a 12-3 UIU run with a three-point play the old-fashioned way. The teams traded buckets and found themselves tied at 50-50 with 13 minutes left, but UIU had climbed back from its 10-point halftime deficit.

The Peacocks then used a 16-8 run to earn their largest lead of the night – eight points – with 6:28 to play.

Ervin, who finished with a game-high 23 points – helped the Bulldogs bounce right back as he converted a three-point play before Reece Zoelle made one of two free throws.

The Bulldogs’ Jake Hottenstine – who finished with 21 total points – then tied the game for the fifth time. By himself, Hottenstine had a 5-0 run capped by a jumper from the wing that tied the game at 66-66 with three minutes remaining in regulation.

Woods had been fairly quiet since the first half, but with the game on the line, he put the team on his back. The Naples, Florida native helped the Peacocks retake the lead with a baseline drive and layup at the 2:05 mark.

That lead disappeared moments later and Woods would need another response – this time, on defense.

After three UMD free throws, the Peacocks trailed 69-68 and the Bulldogs had the ball. On the inbounds-pass, Woods stepped in front of his opponent and intercepted the ball.

He drove all the way to the hoop before he was fouled, but he drained the two ensuing free throws and gave UIU a one-point lead, 70-69, with just 59 seconds left.

The Bulldogs missed a three-pointer before UIU ran the shot-clock down to zero and turned the ball over. Less than eight seconds remained in the game and the Peacocks needed one final stop.

The rest was history as Woods and company held and sealed the road victory, 70-69.

The Peacocks, who have not lost back-to-back games in the conference all season, will look for the weekend sweep against the top team in the NSIC-North – St. Cloud State. The Huskies have won five of their last six, including a 79-78 victory over Winona State on Friday night.  Click here to view the preview of that game.