In his first collegiate start, freshman guard Carson Parker made a memory for a lifetime. In a back-and-forth game against Southwest Minnesota State, the New Hartford, Iowa native scored a career-high 14 points, including 5 in overtime, but none bigger than his final 3. With the clock winding down, the Peacocks had the ball down 101-103, it was Parker who took the final shot, nailing a three from the corner to give UIU the 105-103 win over SMSU. 

Parker's heroics, however, would have never come to fruition had it not been for a savvy veteran move just moments before to take the game to overtime. Senior Grant Lang pulled a step-back three out of his bag of tricks with just under seven seconds remaining in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime. Lang hit a nearly identical shot to give Upper Iowa an 83-81 lead with four minutes left in the game. 

Upper Iowa came out in the first half with a pair of trifectas from Lang and Josh Weeber to get out to an early lead. Midway through the opening period, the Mustangs found themselves down by 12. Seemingly out of no where, senior guard Cole Martin skied for a dunk that revitalized SMSU, starting a 13-2 run for the Mustangs to pull within one, 30-29.

Jimmy Roth and Jordan Hay spurred a Peacock run with five and four points respectively, as UIU took an eight point, 41-33, lead with just over three minutes left in the half. But again it was Martin who would spark the Mustangs, scoring eight points in the final 2:14 to tie the game at 45-45. Hay found room in the lane and hit a late basket to give UIU a 47-45 halftime lead.

A Martin three pointer one minute into the second half gave Southwest Minnesota State its first lead of the game, 50-49. Then Joey Bartlett and Martin hit three's to stretch the SMSU lead to a game-high seven.

But from the 16:08 mark on in the second half, the game saw eight ties and nine lead changes as neither team never took more than a three point lead in regulation.

With under a minute remaining and the shot clock running down, SMSU led 90-89. The Mustangs took a shot jumper and missed, but grabbed the offensive rebound and was able to run the clock down before scoring on a back door cut with 23 ticks left.

Carson Parker quickly brought the ball back down the floor and sank a runner to bring the game back to a one point game with 15 seconds left. UIU fouled quickly after the inbounds play, but the MJ Delmore knocked down both free throws.

That's when Lang decided he wasn't ready for this one to end. With just under ten seconds left, he got the ball at the top of the key, took a jab step and hit a step-back three to tie the game, 94-94. The Mustangs brought the ball back down the floor, threw up a contested three that wouldn't go and the game was headed for overtime.

Overtime saw more of the same as the teams continued to trade baskets. With the score tied at 101-101, UIU appeared to have the Mustangs stopped. After a wild shot with the shot clock running down, SMSU grabbed an offensive board a laid it in as the shot clock expired, taking a 103-101 lead with 41 seconds left.

After a Pagel hit one of two free throws on the other end, SMSU had two chances at the free throw line and missed them both. That set the stage for Parker's big shot, and he made the most of the opportunity.

UIU had a season-high seven players finish in double figures. Lang had a team-high 23 and Hay finished with 17. Parker chipped in 14, Bo Pagel and Jimmy Roth added 12 each, Josh Weeber dropped 11 and Luke Lenhart had 10 points. Pagel pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Peacocks will look to continue their success at home with a game against Sioux Falls tomorrow evening in Dorman Gym at 6 p.m. UIU defeated Sioux Falls 82-66 at the Stewart Center on Dec. 5.