In a back-and-forth game that saw 20 lead changes and 13 ties, the Peacocks men's basketball team earned their most important win of the season on Wednesday night, defeating the St. Cloud State Huskies 87-80 in the opening round of the NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament. The game was tied 73-73 with 3:23 remaining when the Peacocks went on a 9-2 run to propel UIU to the victory.
 
Upper Iowa outscored the Huskies 48-10 in bench scoring as the Peacocks got great performances from junior Josh Weeber (20 points) and Dennis Austin III (20 points) coming off the bench. Weeber did the majority of his damage in the first half as he scored 14 points on 5-of-7 shooing, including four 3-pointers. Austin III racked up 12 second half points as UIU went to him in the post in crunch time.
 
The first half was a track meet as both teams tried to push the ball and score in transition. Neither team was able to take control as the largest lead of the half was four by SCSU with 1:33 remaining. Weeber knocked down a trifecta to cut the lead to one, 38-37, with about a minute left. The Huskies scored with 12 ticks on the clock to go back up three, but UIU freshman Elliot Kane was able to snake through the St. Cloud State defense and lay the ball through the net before the buzzer to cut the Peacock halftime deficit to one, 40-39.
 
SCSU started the second half on a 10-3 run to jump out to an eight point lead, 50-42, less than three minutes into the second stanza, forcing the Peacocks to use a timeout.  UIU came out of the timeout on a 9-0 run, started by a Weeber 3 and a couple Jernell Hughes transition layups, to take the lead 51-50.
 
The teams would trade the lead back and forth, including six ties, until Jimmy Roth hit a 3-pointer to give UIU a 76-73 lead with 3:14 left. St. Cloud State guard Gage Davis responded with a tip slam dunk, but the Peacocks didn't back down. The next possession Hughes converted a 3-point play followed by another Weeber three, his sixth of the game, to push Upper Iowa to a seven point, 82-75 lead. The Huskies would score again until there was 31 seconds remaining and the Peacocks knocked down five of their final six free throws to close out the game.
 
Weeber and Austin led UIU with 20 points each, while Hughes had 14, all of which were in the second half. Junior Jimmy Roth added 12 and 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Weeber and Roth are both closing in on the 1,000 point club, as Weeber is just three points away at 997 and Roth has just five points to go at 995.
 
Upper Iowa will now travel to Sioux Falls and the Sanford Pentagon for the quarterfinals of the NSIC/Sanford Health Tournament where they will meet the No. 1 seed from the NSIC North Division MSU Moorhead on Saturday, Feb. 27, marking the third consecutive year the Peacocks will meet the Dragons in the conference tournament. Tipoff will be at noon.