The Peacock men's basketball team had the #2 Augustana Vikings on the ropes late, but came up just short in a 96-87 loss in Dorman Gym on Saturday night. Upper Iowa trailed by as many at 15, but had several chances throughout the game to tie or take the lead late and couldn't quite complete the comeback.
Jernell Hughes bested his career-high of 25 against Wayne State on Friday night with 32 points against the Vikings. The Imokalee, Fla. native shot 12-19 from the floor, including 7-12 from 3-point range.
Josh Weeber added 17 points and was 5-of-9 from distance.
The Vikings were red-hot from beyond the arc to start the game, knocking down 10 of their first 13 shots from 3-point land. Augustana seemingly didn't miss in the opening 20 minutes, shooting 59.5% (22-37) and hitting 11 trifectas. The Peacocks also shot the ball exceptionally in the first half as well, converting 54.5% (18-33) from the field and 50% (9-18) from three, but UIU trailed by 13, 59-46, at half.
Early in the second half, a Casey Schilling fast break dunk put Augie up by a game-high 15 points, 64-49. Over the next six minutes, UIU embarked on a 16-3 run that got the crowd rocking. Hughes started the rally with a pair of layups and hit a 3-pointer, while
Josh Weeber added three triples and the Peacocks found themselves down just two, 67-65 with 12:33 remaining.
Augustana responded and pushed the lead back to nine, 83-74, before
Carson Parker and Hughes hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cut the lead to three. The Peacocks followed those baskets with six consecutive shots on the defensive end, but also came up empty on offense and the game remained 83-80 for nearly three minutes.
Again, the Vikings came back to led by five with two minutes left, but Hughes hit his biggest shot of the night, burying a deep three to pull UIU within a pair, 89-87. Upper Iowa had a couple of chances to take the lead, including a
Carson Parker corner trifecta that was halfway down, but the Peacocks remained down two. On the ensuing possession, UIU played great defense for 27 seconds, but Daniel Jansen corralled the ball and knocked down a 3-pointer with 49 seconds left to put Augustana up five. The three started a 7-0 run for Augie as the Vikings knocked down 4-of-6 free throws to ice the game.
The Peacocks head back on the road next weekend to northern Minnesota where UIU will battle with Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State, Jan. 29-30.
