The Upper Iowa men's basketball team battled their way back from a 14-point deficit to earn their second straight victory in their 83-78 win over Drury University. The Peacocks improve to 2-2 following Friday's win on the road, while the Panthers dip below .500 and fall to 3-4. 

The Peacocks and Panthers battled back in forth in a tightly contested first half that saw the lead change hands ten times and neither side getting ahead by more than six points. Drury was able to pull away in the closing minutes thanks to a 12-5 run that gave the Panthers a six-point advantage heading into the half. 

Drury returned from the locker room with eight quick points to open the second half and put the Panthers ahead by 14 points. Upper Iowa did not take long to respond as they immediately put up eight unanswered points of their own to kick off an 18-4 run that would knot the score at 55. During that run Joe Smoldt and Jackson Joens each knocked down a pair of threes and Cade Moritz added a pair of buckets of his own. The two sides continued to exchange leads with the three-pointers from Smoldt and Joens being met by Panther threes on the other end of the floor. Upper Iowa held on to a two point-lead going into the final minute of regulation and thanks to a timely steal by Upper Iowa's Kyle Haber, Drury had no choice but to foul. The Peacocks knocked down each of their final six shots from the charity stripe to close the game out at 83-78.

Upper Iowa's Joe Smoldt finished the game with 20 points for the second consecutive time this season following a 22-point performance against Quincy last week. Smoldt hit six shots from downtown in his effort against the Panthers, tying the team's high on the season after Jareese Williams went 6-7 from beyond the arc against Quincy. So far this season Smoldt has not scored less than 16 points and is averaging 18.75 points per game.

In his collegiate debut, Jackson Joens made quite a splash for the Peacocks, knocking down four shots from deep and finished the evening with 12 points. The Cedar Rapids native hauled in two boards and hit a timely three to kill a run by the Panthers and kickstarted the 18-4 run by the Peacocks that shifted the momentum in the game. Joens' 12-point performance is the second consecutive game where a Peacock has come off the bench and put up double-digits following Haber's 17-point explosion against the Hawks last week. 

The Peacocks hit a season high 18 three-pointers in their Friday's win over the Panthers. In addition to Smoldt's six and Joens' four, Chris Olson and Quentin Blaue each added three of their own. 

Upper Iowa will hit the floor one more time at the Drury Thanksgiving Classic tomorrow at 1pm. The Peacocks will search for their third straight win as they take on the Missouri S&T Miners.