The Peacock men's basketball team fought all the way to the end Wednesday night to advance to the quarterfinals of the 2017 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament after Carson Parker beat the buzzer for the third time this season. Parker hit a fade-away with 3.7 seconds remaining to propel #2 Upper Iowa to the win over the #7 Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles. With the win, UIU moves on for the fifth consecutive season to the second round, and earns its 20th win of the season, tying a program record at the NCAA Division II level.

Trailing 75-72 with 4:44 remaining, Upper Iowa went to Parker right away. The junior point guard hit one of two foul shots to pull the home team within two, and after a defensive stop, got the ball back with a chance to tie. Redshirt senior Jordan Hay was fouled on the ensuing possession, and hit a pair of free throws to knot the game up at 75 with 3:43 to play. After yet another big defensive hold and a rebound, Parker went back to work, getting to the rim on the right side to put UIU up 77-75 with 2:58 to go.

Minnesota Crookston, who was outstanding on offense the entire night, turned to their freshman star Harrison Cleary, the conference's second-leading scorer. Cleary answered the call with a jumper in the paint to tie the game at 77, and after a Golden Eagle block on the defensive side, Cleary hit another shot to give the visitors a 79-77 advantage with 2:11 remaining.

Parker missed a three-pointer on the next Peacock possession, but the UIU defense would rise to the occasion yet again. After a UMC miss, Hay went to work inside, connecting on a layup to tie the game at 79 with 1:06 to go. But again, if Upper Iowa was going to avoid the upset, they needed to get a stop on the defensive end. They got that key stop.

After a miss at the shot-clock buzzer with 35 seconds remaining, Parker got the rebound and Head Coach Brooks McKowen called a timeout with 21 seconds left and 17 on the shot clock. Upper Iowa wanted to use clock and find a quality shot, and who better to turn to than Parker. The New Hartford, Iowa native had hit three-pointers at the buzzer against Southwest Minnesota State and Augustana earlier this season, and was looking for the ball late in the playoff game. Parker called his own number, drove in to the lane, spun, and connected on a fade away to give the home team the 81-79 lead with 3.7 seconds remaining.
 
But the game was far from over. On the ensuing inbound pass, Minnesota Crookston threw the ball out of bounds with no time running off the clock. UIU got it back, inbounded to Parker, who hit one-of-two at the foul line to give the Peacocks an 82-79 advantage with 2 seconds to play. The Golden Eagles had one last shot, and the three-point heave came up just short, and Upper Iowa walked out of Dorman Gymnasium with a hard-fought win.
 
The Peacocks overcame a hot shooting night for the visitors. Minnesota Crookston shot 51.6% (32-62) from the field, including 45% (9-20) from behind the arc. Cleary lead all scorers in the game with 23 points on 9-18 shooting, and got help from Chase Knickerbocker (20 points) and Connor Gamble (15 points).

Parker led the home team with 20 points on a remarkable 7-10 shooting, and contributed with 4 rebounds and a game-high 5 assists as well. Senior Luke Lenhart scored 15 points (all in the first half), and came in needing 18 to join the 1,000-point club. The Storm Lake, Iowa native will play on Sunday needing just three points to join Roth and Josh Weeber as current Peacocks at the 1,000-point plateau. Hay totaled 13 points, with Roth adding 12 on the night. Nine different Peacocks scored in the game.

The game featured 9 ties and 10 lead changes, with the Peacocks holding the largest lead of the night at 9 points late in the first half. However, just before halftime, Minnesota Crookston blasted Upper Iowa with a 17-6 run over the final four minutes to take a 39-37 lead into the locker room. UIU won its eighth game of the season when trailing at halftime, and fifth such game at home. Upper Iowa adds to its Division II program record with 11 wins in Fayette this season.

The second half was back and forth, with the visitors holding two different 5-point leads. Upper Iowa came back with help from Roth and Kam Rowan, and jumped out to the lead for the majority of the second stanza. However, UMC fought back to take the lead with under five minutes to play, setting up the amazing finish. UIU is now 9-2 in games decided by five points or less this season.

The #2 Peacocks will now head to Sioux Falls, S.D. for a date with the #3 St. Cloud State Huskies, who topped #6 Wayne State to advance to the quarterfinal round. The second-round game will take place on Sunday, Feb. 26 at the Sanford Pentagon, with tip-off scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The game will have a live audio broadcast option on the Peacock Sports Network. Live options for thee game are available here.