Despite another heroic attempt and a buzzer-beating, three-pointer to force overtime, the Peacock men's basketball team (22-11) fell to #3 Northwest Missouri State University (30-1) in the first round of the NCAA Division II Central Region Championship 79-74 in overtime. UIU fell behind by double digits in each half, but rallied to take a lead in the second half and a tied the game at the regulation buzzer.
 
The Bearcats jumped out to an early five-point lead, but the Peacocks were able to tie the game at 15-15 just six and a half minutes into the game. The home team went on an 18-6 run over the next eight minutes to open up a 12-point advantage, 33-21, with just under six minutes to play in the opening half. The NMSU run was highlighted by nine points for Justin Pitts.
 
Upper Iowa rallied prior to half cutting the gap to just five points at the break, 38-33, after outscoring their hosts 12-5 over the final five and a half minutes. Carson Parker had six points in the run and Kam Rowan added 4.
 
The Peacocks once again found themselves down 12 just a few minutes into the second half. Dennis Austin scored the first bucket of the half slimming the margin to three, 38-35, but a quick 9-0 run by the Bearcats pushed the lead back to a dozen, 47-35.
 
UIU once again had an answer going on an extended run in which they held the Bearcats to just nine points over a near-twelve-and-a-half-minute span. While the Peacock defense was locking up, the offense began to find its way scoring 23 points in that same span fueled by Jordan Hay's 12 points and capped off by five straight points by Rowan. The huge UIU run gave the 8-seed a two-point lead, 58-56, with 3:31 to play in the game.  Included in Hay's dozen points in the run was his 1,000^th point on a layup at the 8:11 mark.
 
The Bearcats bounced back with five straight taking a three-point lead with 1:50 on the clock.  Parker knocked down a jumper to slim the advantage to one, 61-60, but Pitts once again answered setting the margin back to three with 17 seconds to play.
 
As time in regulation wound down, Parker did what he has done as well as anyone in the country this season. From the top of the key after a pair of crossovers, the Peacock junior elevated and knocked down the game-tying three-pointer as the horn sounded sending the game into overtime.
 
In overtime, Parker gave UIU a 65-63 lead with a pair of free throws, but Pitts went on an 8-0 run by himself with a floater, a three-point play and a three to put the Bearcats ahead by six, 71-65, with 2:27 to play. The teams exchanged scores as time drifted away and UIU was still down six, 77-71, with 26 seconds to play when Parker hit another triple to cut the gap to three, 77-74.
 
The one-seed in the regional knocked down two final free throws around a pair of three-pointers that just missed for Upper Iowa as the Bearcats survived to claim a victory, 79-74, and move on to the semifinals on Sunday night.
 
Parker led the Peacocks in scoring with 20 and Hay added 18; Rowan also reached double figures with 11 and Josh Weeber and Dennis Austin III each chipped in 7 points. On the glass, Parker cleaned up seven to lead the team, while Rowan handed out 5 assists on the night.
 
As the season comes to an end with 22 wins, one shy of the all-time mark set by the 1998-99 team, the Peacocks will see the end to five careers including four 1,000-point scorers. Jimmy Roth, Josh Weeber, Luke Lenhart, Jordan Hay and Jace Hanna have all completed their long careers with Upper Iowa, but the team is in good hands with the return of Parker, Rowan, Austin III, Mitch Eighme and Munachiso Okonkwo, not to mention the Peacocks that redshirted this season and Peacocks on the way to Fayette this summer.