The Peacocks men's basketball shot 56. 5% in the second half en route to a 86-74 victory over the Golden Bears of Concordia-St. Paul. The Peacocks (7-3, 3-2 NSIC) had two stretches where they shot 5-of-6 from behind the three point line to take control of the game, with the latter coming with less than seven minutes left to seal the victory.

Upper Iowa came out hot, with one of its 5-of-6 from beyond the arc stretches, to take an early 23-8 lead. Sophomore sharp-shooting guard Luke Lenhart hit three trifectas in four possessions sandwiched around a Jernell Hughes layup during the 11-0 run. 

The Golden Bears (5-5, 1-3 NSIC) made a 18-5 run of their own to get back into the game, punctuated by a Nuni Omot dunk to pull within three, 33-30. Jace Hanna came back with a quick jumper to give UIU the 35-30 lead heading into the halftime break.  

Concordia came out of the halftime break on a mission, using a 12-2 run to jump out to a five point lead four minutes into the second half. Both teams battled back-and-forth to a tied game at 49-49 with 11:46 left and 59-59 with 7:21 left. 

It was at that point both teams decided to engage in a three point shooting exhibition. Concordia senior guard hit a three to tie the game at 59, then Upper Iowa hit trifectas on three straight trips down the floor. Senior guard Grant Lang hit the first and third with Josh Weeber burying one in the middle. CU came back with a three of their own on the following possession, making it 5-of-6 possessions with a three.

The Peacocks held onto a seven point lead, but pushed it to double-digits when Lang hit back-to-back threes with less than three minutes left.

UIU iced the game with free throw shooting in the second half. The Peacocks shot 22-27 (81.5%) for the game, going 19-23 (82.6%) in the latter period. Coming into the game, UIU was shooting 67.6 percent from the charity stripe.

Lang lead Upper Iowa with 18 points, while Bo Pagel and Jordan Hay had 14 each, with Hay going 10-13 from the free throw line. Weeber, Hanna and Lenhart had 9 points apiece, with Weeber added 6 rebounds to lead the Peacocks.

UIU hits the road next for a non-conference game against UW-Parkside on Tuesday, December 16 at 7 p.m.