It took extra minutes on Friday night, but the Peacock men's basketball team picked up a much-needed victory in Bismarck, N.D. against the Marauders of the University of Mary. Upper Iowa trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, and were faced with an 8-point halftime deficit to overcome. UIU forced 16 UMary turnovers, and scored 19 points off to help force overtime, where the visitors won 13-7 in the final five minutes. With the 92-86 OT win, the Peacocks improve to 12-12 overall and 5-10 in the Northern Sun Conference. UMary drops to 5-14 overall and 3-12 in the league with the cross-division loss.
The highlight of the night individually was once again senior
Carson Parker, who dazzled with his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The eighth 20-point game of the season was fueled by 6-14 from the floor and 6-6 from the free throw line. The New Hartford, Iowa native led UIU's quintet of double-digit scorers, and was followed by a pair of 14-point efforts from
Joe Smoldt and
Munachiso Okonkwo. Okonkwo went 5-7 from the floor and added five rebounds, and fellow post
Mitch Eighme added 12 points off the bench.
Quentin Blaue rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 on the night.
Dennis Austin III dished out a game-best six assists to go along with his seven points, and
Jareese Williams added nine points off the bench as well.
It was back and forth most of the first half on Friday, with neither team grabbing more than a four-point lead early on. Blaue hit a three-pointer at the 10-minute mark to give UIU a 12-11 lead, but a 16-6 run by the Marauders gave the home team a nine-point cushion four minutes later. The largest deficit of the half came at the 1:51 mark, when the Peacocks trailed 40-30. UIU trailed by eight at halftime, 40-32, and needed a run in the second half to try to catch some momentum.
The momentum came in the form of Parker. The senior guard hit just two free throws in the first half for his lone points of the period, but then came alive in the final 20 minutes and overtime. Six seconds into the second half, Okonkwo was released for a dunk to get it going, and the rest of the team followed suit. UIU continue to hammer it into the paint, outscoring the home team 22-10 in points in the paint in the final 20 minutes. Another Okonkwo dunk was followed by Austin III and Parker getting to the rim, and the stage was set for the second half. Parker hit a three-pointer to pull the Peacocks within two, 48-46, at the 13:30 mark, and Smoldt eventually gave UIU its first lead of the stanza with a trifecta with 10:30 to play. The teams went back and forth from there on out, with neither team leading by more than eight until the overtime period. There was never a shortage of drama in Bismarck on Friday.
Upper Iowa's comeback appeared complete, as they led by eight points, 72-64, after a Blaue triple with 4:16 to go. However, the Marauders chipped away late and with 10 seconds left, Connor Hellebust hit a big three-pointer to tie it at 79 to send the game into overtime. Parker had a chance at a three pointer at the end of regulation, but it was no good, and the fans got to see more basketball.
UMary hit a free throw to grab the lead in the overtime period, but Parker erased that with a jumper to put UIU up one, 81-80, with 3:40 to play. On the next possession,
Kam Rowan, who had been quiet all night in terms of scoring, hit a key jumper to put the Peacocks up three, 83-80. After a Marauder turnover, UIU turned to their senior leader, and Parker delivered with a big-time shot to go up five points, and more importantly, two possessions, with 2:03 to go. Williams came up with the shot of his redshirt freshman campaign with a three-pointer with 48 seconds left to put Upper Iowa back up six points, 88-82, and the visitors sealed it from there. Free throws by Rowan and Parker iced the victory, and UIU got to celebrate the hard-fought road victory.
Upper Iowa shot 44% (30-68) from the floor on Friday, including 10-33 (30%) from behind the arc. The 19-2 advantage in points off turnovers played in a big role in the game, with the five steals and 16 turnovers forced helping to pave the way for UIU.
The Peacocks will head even further north for their Saturday, Jan. 27 contest, as they travel to Minot, N.D. to square off with the Beavers of Minot State University. Tip-off at the MSU Dome is scheduled for 6 p.m.
