The Peacock men's basketball team held the lead for the final 30 minutes of Saturday night's NSIC battle versus the Mustangs of Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minn. The home team pulled within one point, 75-74, with 27 seconds to play, but three of four shooting at the free throw line over the final ticks of the clock earned Upper Iowa the 78-74 win.
Upper Iowa (6-2, 2-1 NSIC) bounced back after a conference opening loss at Winona State University last week with two wins on the road this weekend over Sioux Falls and Southwest Minnesota State.
Bo Pagel led the Peacocks with 19 points, while
Jordan Hay added 18 off the bench and
Grant Lang netted 11.
Jarrod Gamble and
Jace Hanna each chipped in 9 points. Hanna and Hay led the team on the boards with 6 apiece.
Midway through the first half, the Peacocks and Mustangs were tied at 18-18 after exchanging offensive blows. Upper Iowa used a 8-2 run capped off by a pair of trifectas from Gamble and Hanna. The visitors pushed their lead to ten, 34-24, with 2:25 to play when Hay put in a layup. Pagel knocked down a three with less than a minute to play in the half to send UIU to the locker room with a 39-32 lead.
Upper Iowa took their biggest lead of the game, 57-45, midway through the second half after four straight points from
Luke Lenhart. The Peacocks still led by ten, 75-65, with 1:32 showing on the clock, but the Mustangs put together a fierce rally that saw the home team cut the margin to just one point, 75-74. SMSU, fueled by a 9-0 run, trailed by a single point with 27 seconds to play. Lang knocked down one free throw and then rebounded his own miss to keep the ball in UIU's hands. Pagel then stepped to the line a few seconds later and hit both shots at the charity stripe to lead by four, 78-74. The home team's final three missed as Upper Iowa claimed the win.
SMSU dominated UIU on the boards to the tune of a 49-36 advantage, but the Peacocks forced the Mustangs into 17 turnovers while only giving the ball away 8 times themselves.
Upper Iowa is back at home this coming weekend against Minnesota State University, Mankato and Concordia University, St. Paul. The Peacocks will host the Mavericks on Friday at 8 p.m. and the Golden Bears on Saturday at 6 p.m. in Dorman Gymnasium.
