The Peacock men's basketball team wrapped up the 2016 calendar on a high note, capping a weekend sweep with a 79-68 victory over the Golden Eagles of Minnesota Crookston on Saturday night. Upper Iowa used stifling defense to match their second-lowest point total allowed this season. After a seven-point halftime lead, UIU jumped out of the gates with a big run to put the game away. Despite a late Golden Eagle rally, the Peacocks held on for an 11-point victory to win their third consecutive game. With the win, Upper Iowa improves to 10-4 overall and 7-1 in the NSIC, while the loss drops UMC to 5-8 and 1-6 in league play.

After eight lead changes in the first 12 minutes of the game, the Peacocks started to gain some momentum. Jordan Hay connected on a jumper in the paint and Jimmy Roth followed up with a layup to give the home team the lead, and Luke Lenhart extended it with a three-pointer. Hay made another layup to give UIU a 37-30 halftime lead, and the Peacocks would never reliquinsh it.

Upper Iowa scored the first 14 points of the second half behind Lenhart and Dennis Austin III. A pair of Lenhart triples sandwiched a five-point run for Austin to put the Peacocks in control. Carson Parker and Hay each added a layup to complete an 18-0 run spanning over the last 1:27 of the first half into the 15:40 mark of the second frame to extend the lead to 21 points. Minnesota Crookston put together a 16-4 run to get back in the game, trailing 55-46. However, the Peacocks had one more run in them to officially put the game to bed, putting together a 14-4 stretch to extend the lead back out to 19 points. UIU held on for the 11-point win, and notched their 10th win of the season before flipping the calendar to 2017.

Hay led the way with a game-high 20 points on 8-13 shooting, and pulled down 7 rebounds as well. The Stanwood, Iowa product tallied four blocks as well to anchor a stellar performance from the Upper Iowa defense. Lenhart totaled 18 points on 5-8 from the field, including 3-6 from distance. Austin III and Jimmy Roth each totaled 14 points, with Austin converting 6-8 from the field and grabbing 5 rebounds. Roth went 6-10 from the free throw line and added four assists as well. Parker added a game-high eight assists in 30 minutes of action.

The Peacock defense held the leading scorer in the Northern Sun Conference, Harrison Cleary, to 10 points on 4-16 shooting from the field. Cleary, who averaged 22 points per game coming in, was held in check along with the rest of the Golden Eagles. Chase Knickerbocker led the way for UMC with 15 points, while Kobe Critchley totaled 14 and Connor Gamble added 11. UIU held their guests to 37.1% (26-70) from the field, and forced 14 turnovers.

UIU converted 53.8% of their shots (28-52), and put together an 18-26 performance at the free throw line. The Peacocks outscored UMC 46-22 in the paint to catapult them to the win.

Upper Iowa will hit the road for two consecutive weeks, beginning with a westward trip to open 2017. The Peacocks will face the Sioux Falls Cougars next Friday, Jan. 6 at 8 p.m. in Sioux Falls, S.D. before heading to Marshall, Minn. to battle the nationally-ranked Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs on Saturday, Jan. 7. UIU defeated both teams earlier this season in Fayette, both two-point wins at the beginning of December.