The Peacock men's basketball started the conference season with a win and climbed above .500 for the first time this season with a 79-74 win over the Winona State Warriors on Saturday night in Dorman Gym. Upper Iowa (5-4, 1-0 NSIC) picked up just their fourth win in the 24-game series between UIU and Winona State (1-4, 0-1 NSIC), but the Peacocks have now won two-in-a-row after defeating the Warriors 90-76 in Fayette last December.
 
Sophomore guard Carson Parker scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half, including knocking down 6 straight free throws in the final 18 seconds to close out the game. The Peacocks outscored the Warriors 22-6 from the charity stripe in the game as WSU shot just 37.5% (6-16) on their freebies.
 
Winona State jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the game and led by as many as 11 points early. But senior Jernell Hughes led a Peacock charge as UIU eventually took a 21-20 lead with 6 minutes left in the opening half. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first half and Upper Iowa led 34-33 at halftime.
 
To start the second half, the Peacocks had to withstand another Winona State rally that saw the Warriors go up by 5 points with 9:22 remaining. Junior guard Luke Lenhart took over, scoring 8 of the next 12 Peacock points including a 3-pointer that gave UIU a 66-63 lead with 5:46 left.
 
Upper Iowa never surrendered the lead again, despite Winona State pulling within one-point on three different occasions. However, the Warriors free throw troubles doomed them down the stretch, going 2-for-8 after UIU took the lead. The Peacocks, on the other hand, went 7-for-10 from the stripe over that span, including 6 from Parker in the final 18 seconds.
 
Lenhart led UIU with 13 points as he shot 4-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. Junior Josh Weeber and Parker had 12 each, followed by a trio of Peacocks with 9 points. Senior Jarrod Gamble had just 2 points, but led Upper Iowa with 7 rebounds.  
 
UIU continues conference play and wraps up a five-game homestand with a pair of NSIC games in Dorman Gym next weekend, starting with Sioux Falls on Friday, Dec. 4 at 8 p.m.