The Peacock men's basketball team dropped their first conference game of the season on Saturday night inside Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette. The Winona State Warriors used their NSIC-best defense to hold Upper Iowa to a season-worst 36.5% shooting performance en route to an 85-67 win. The visitors led for the final 27 minutes of the game to claim the upset victory. With the loss, UIU snaps its Division II program-record six-game winning streak and drops to 7-4 overall and 4-1 in the NSIC, while the win springs Winona State to 5-4 and 2-3 in league play.

The game got off to a slow start for both offenses, with the visitors taking a 13-11 lead with 9:46 remaining in the first half. UIU jumped out to a 6-0 lead, but WSU fired back with seven consecutive points in a back-and-forth first period. Upper Iowa tied the game at 13 after a Josh Weeber layup, and with 8:13 left in the first half, the Peacocks were looking to take the lead. However, Munachiso Okonkwo connected on a jumper in the paint to put UIU up two points, and then the Warriors took over. Riley Bambenek connected on a trifecta to put WSU up 16-15 and they would never trail again. Winona State outscored Upper Iowa 20-8 in the final seven minutes of the frame to take a commanding 33-23 lead into the locker room.

The Warriors used the three-pointer in the second half to keep their lead in double-digits. Upper Iowa never got closer than 13 points in the final 20 minutes. Kyle Bauman and Bambenek struck on back-to-back trifectas to start the half, and a Bambenek triple at the 16-minute mark put the visitors up 46-26, and UIU could not recover. The Peacocks struggled to find ways to score, especially inside, and were held to a season-low field goal percentage (36.5%).

Winona State converted 31-56 (55.4%) from the field, including 9-22 from behind the arc. Upper Iowa converted just 23-63 shots, and 6-22 from distance on Saturday. The Peacocks forced Winona State into 16 turnovers, but could not convert them into points to cut into the deficit.

Bambenek led the way for WSU with 23 points on 5-8 three-point shooting, while Josh Mongan added 16 points and Isaiah Gray and Tommy Gathje totaled 14 apiece. Senior Jimmy Roth led the way for the Peacocks with 20 points on 5-11 shooting, including 3-11 from distance. Dennis Austin III added 13 points and 4 rebounds, while Luke Lenhart, Carson Parker, and Josh Weeber each contributed with 7 points.

Upper Iowa will have a quick turnaround as they square off once again with Winona State in less than 48 hours. The Peacocks will travel up to McCown Gymnasium in Winona, Minn. on Monday, Dec 19 to battle WSU with tip-off scheduled for 6 p.m. There will be a live online audio option available Monday night.