TONIGHT IN PEACOCK MEN'S BASKETBALL…
The Peacocks (22-9, 16-6 NSIC) will meet the #1 Southwest Minnesota State Mustangs in the 2017 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament Championship Game on Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. #2 Upper Iowa rallied late on Monday night to top the Minnesota State Mavericks in the semifinals to advance to its first NSIC title game in program history. The winner of Tuesday night's game will get an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Division II regional tournament in the central region. Tonight's championship game will be available via an online audio broadcast on the
Peacock Sports Network.
| GAME THIRTY-TWO |
| #1 SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE |
| SANFORD PENTAGON |
| SIOUX FALLS, S.D. |
| TUESDAY, FEB. 28 || 7:30 PM |
SEMIFINAL STORYLINES...
FIRST ROUND WITH THE MUSTANGS: The Peacocks trailed the Mustangs for 38 minutes back on Dec. 2 in Fayette, but rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit to win a thrilling game 77-75. Upper Iowa tied the game at 69 with 2:07 remaining, and took their first lead after a
Jimmy Roth free throw. Joey Bartlett connected on a jump shot for the visitors seconds later to take the lead again, but
Dennis Austin III drove to the paint to connect on a layup while being fouled to answer back. Bartlett put SMSU up 73-72 after another jump shot, but then Peacock senior
Luke Lenhart connected on a three-pointer to give UIU a two-point lead with 47 seconds remaining. Taylor Shafer tied the game at 75 with 37 seconds left, but Upper Iowa got another chance. After a
Carson Parker miss,
Jordan Hay got a big offensive rebound and was fouled on a put-back attempt. Hay knocked down both free throws, and the Peacock defense held to win a thriller 77-75.
BUZZER-BEATING CLASSIC IN ROUND TWO: Upper Iowa beat the buzzer in round two on Jan. 7 at the R/A Facility in Marshall, Minn. to defeat then-No. 19 SMSU. Parker connected on a three-pointer from 25 feet at the top of the key with 0.2 seconds remaining in overtime to pull of their second upset of the Mustangs this season. UIU trailed by eight points with 4:54 remaining in regulation, but used a big comeback to send the game to overtime. Parker connected on a three to put UIU up two points late, and then hit the game-winner a few moments later. Parker was big at the end of regulation as well, connecting on a triple to tie the game, and then blocking a Mustang shot at the buzzer to send the game to the extra period. UIU held on 99-96 in overtime in one of the best games of the year in the league.
PEACOCK ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #2 UIU fought all the way to the end of Wednesday night's first round game against Minnesota Crookston. Parker beat the buzzer for the third time this season, hitting a fade-away with 3.7 seconds remaining to propel UIU to the win. Parker's 20 points were a game high in the final game in Dorman Gymasium this season. Upper Iowa then put together one of its best performances of the season in an 81-61 dominant win over the #3 St. Cloud State Huskies in the quarterfinal round on Sunday afternoon. The Peacocks outscored SCSU 41-30 in the first half and 40-31 in the second half en route to one of their most dominant wins of the season.
Jordan Hay totaled 20 points as UIU set a new NCAA Division II school record with its 21st win.
Luke Lenhart reached the 1,000-point mark on Sunday, becoming the 25th member of the club all-time and the third on the active roster, joining teammates
Jimmy Roth and
Josh Weeber. The Peacocks then trailed by 5 points with 6 minutes to play on Monday night against the Minnesota State, but outscored the Mavericks 17-4 in the final minutes to pull out a 63-58 win to advance to their first conference championship game since joining the NSIC in 2006.
MUSTANG ROAD TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME: #1 Southwest Minnesota State topped #8 Minnesota Duluth last Wednesday night in Marshall to advance to Sioux Falls for the quarterfinals. SMSU defeated the Bulldogs 79-54 behind a pair of 15-point nights from Turner Moen and Carter Kirk. The Mustangs then took down the Sioux Falls Cougars in the quarterfinal game on Sunday night, topping USF 79-68 a career-best 34-point game from point guard Ryan Bruggeman. Southwest Minnesota State then had to go to double overtime to complete their comeback over #3 Augustana on Monday night in the semifinal game. SMSU trailed 72-62 with 2:00 remaining, but completed a 12-2 run to force overtime. After forcing a second overtime, SMSU outscored Augie 14-6 in the second 5 minutes to win the game 97-89.
THE SERIES…
vs. SMSU MUSTANGS: The Mustangs own the all-time series 16-8, but the Peacocks have won five of the last six. UIU handed SMSU two of its five losses this season, both in thrilling fashion, and by a combined 5 points.
