The Peacock men's basketball team put together their best showing of the young season on Wednesday night in Quincy, Ill. against the Hawks of Quincy University. Upper Iowa never trailed in the game, and scored 44 points off the bench en route to an 81-59 victory, their largest of the young season. With the win, UIU snaps a two-game losing streak, and improves to 4-2 on the year. Quincy drops to 0-3 after the loss.

Head Coach Brooks McKowen has plenty of weapons at his disposal this season, and that depth showed greatly on Wednesday. The top three scorers for Upper Iowa came off the bench, with redshirt freshman Peghuentz Pericles leading the way with 13 points on 4-7 shooting including 3-5 from behind the arc. Freshman Joe Smoldt finished with 12 points off the bench, while Munachiso Okonkwo tallied his second straight double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Kam Rowan scored 10 points for the game, while three Peacocks scored eight points including Carson Parker, Mitch Eighme, and Jareese Williams. All in all, nine players scored for the game.

The Peacocks stormed out to an 18-6 start on the road, and held the lead the rest of the game. Quincy started to pull back into the game, as they got within 29-20 with 4:17 left in the half. After that point, Upper Iowa used a 14-7 run to close the half, and lead 42-24 at the break. At that point, UIU was in control, and would not let up.

Upper Iowa was strong inside throughout the game, scoring 36 points in the paint against the Hawks. Okonkwo and Eighme were able to get three hammer dunks, while guard penetration to the basket was key as well. For the game, the visitors shot 50.8% from the floor (30-59), and were outstanding from behind the arc, converting 9-17 (52.9%).

The Peacocks held on the second half, outscoring the home team 39-35, and holding onto their big lead. UIU held Quincy to 38% shooting for the game, and even their 47% shooting in the second period wasn't enough to get back in the game. Upper Iowa's 81 points scored are the most for the team since the season opener in California.

Up next, UIU heads south to Maryville, Mo. to play in the Northwest Missouri State Tournament. The Peacocks will take on the Bulldogs of Truman State University on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5 p.m. before squaring off with the Roadrunners of Metro State University on Saturday, Nov. 18 at 1 p.m.