Upper Iowa men's basketball picked up its second victory in a row with an 86-78 win over Missouri Western State on Saturday evening in St. Joseph, Missouri. The Peacocks led for the majority of the game but the Griffons cut the lead to two with less than two minutes left before UIU scored the final six points of the game. Upper Iowa improved to 2-3 on the year while the Griffons fell to 1-1.
 
The Peacocks took a firm hold of the game late in the first half with a 10-0 run to give UIU a 7 point lead with less than five minutes left. Senior Jordan Hay and freshman Dennis Austin III chipped in 4 points each in the run. Sophomore Carson Parker hit a layup with 8 ticks left to give Upper Iowa an 11 point lead, their biggest of the half, but the Griffons responded with a buzzer-beating three pointer and the Peacocks took a 43-35 lead into halftime.
 
Hot shooting in the second half, particularly from three point range, pushed the Peacock lead back to double figures early. Junior Josh Weeber went on an 8-0 run by himself as he hit back-to-back trifectas and knocked down a pair of free throws to put Upper Iowa up 15 with less than 10 minutes left.
 
Missouri Western State made a run of their own in the final five minutes. The Griffons went on a 16-4 run, including a 10-0 stretch, to make it a 2 point game, 80-78. But a Jarrod Gamble layup and four Peacock free throws sealed the game as Upper Iowa went on to win by 8.
 
UIU was in the bonus for the majority of the second half and converted 26-of-31 free throws to keep the Griffons at an arm's length. The Peacocks had struggled from the line to this point in the 2015-16 season, shooting just 63.2% from the line in their first four games.
 
Weeber led UIU with 20 points as he shot 5-8 from three point range and 6-6 from the charity stripe. Junior Jimmy Roth had 12 points and was also 6-6 from the free throw line, and grabbed a team-high 6 rebounds. Hay (10 points) and Parker (10 points, 6 assists) rounded out the Peacocks in double figures.
 
Upper Iowa continues on the road in their next game as they play at Quincy University on Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. UIU returns to Fayette for the home opener on Saturday, Nov. 21 when they host Truman State.