The Peacocks were on the brink of a colossal upset against the #2 Augustana Vikings, but the mountain that UIU had to climb was just too high. Upper Iowa dug itself a deep hole in the first half, falling behind by more than 20, but found itself in the game in the second half. Unfortunately, UIU's rally ended with missed opportunities late and the Peacocks fell, 97-92, dropping to 15-12 on the season and 11-10 in NSIC play.
A raucous full house in Dorman Gymnasium was silenced early as the Vikings jumped out to a 22 point lead midway through the opening half. NSIC scoring leader Daniel Jansen paced Augustana with 11 points in the first 13 minutes, putting a cap on a 29-9 stretch with an old-fashioned three-point play.
The Peacocks would rally behind sharpshooting from behind the arc as Jernell Hughes knocked down two, while Jimmy Roth and Josh Weeber added one each and the Upper Iowa used a 17-2 run to pull within four, 40-36. The Vikings closed the half with the last few buckets, taking a 48-40 lead into the break.
UIU whittled away at the Augustana eight-point halftime lead early the second half, getting within two points on three occasions. But every Peacock rally was met with a Viking answer and Augustana pushed its lead back to nine with 5:15 left.
Luke Lenhart scored six points in 14 seconds on three free throws and a deep trifecta to bring it back to a three-point affair, 86-83, with 4:52 left. After a pair of Viking baskets, a one-eyed Bo Pagel led a 6-1 Peacock rally to pull within two, 91-89. Earlier in the half, Pagel was caught by a teammate's elbow above his right eye and had to be bandaged up before returning to the game. Even with blood dripping down his face from behind his band-aid, the senior playing in his second last game in Dorman Gym wouldn't let the Peacocks go down without a fight.
On the next Viking possession, UIU forced an Augustana turnover with 50 ticks left. After calling a timeout, Upper Iowa nearly tied the game on a backdoor dunk by Roth, but he lost the ball on the way up and it floated over the hoop as he grabbed the rim.
Upper Iowa fouled in an attempt to get back into the game in the waning seconds, but Augustana knocked down clutch free throws to ice the game.
Pagel led the Peacocks with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Roth was right behind him with 16, while Jordan Hay had 14 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. Lenhart finished the night with 13 points and Josh Weeber rounded out the Peacocks top scorers with 10.
The Vikings feature one of the top line-ups in the Northern Sun, if not the country, and they showed it. All five Viking starters scored in double figures, including a team-high 20 from Jordan Spencer, with Casey Schilling chipping in 18. Jansen finished with 17.
Upper Iowa will send off its two seniors tomorrow night against Wayne State. Pagel and Grant Lang will be honored, along with the women's basketball seniors, prior to the men's tip-off at 6 p.m.
