Upper Iowa knocked down 17 three-pointers in Saturday's game against Missouri University of Science and Technology while playing a man down in the post due to injury. The Peacocks led by as many as 16 points late in the second half, but the Miners rallied and cut the gap to just 2 points. UIU never trailed and knocked down 3 of their final 4 free throws to hold on for the 91-87 win.

Chris Olson scored a career-high 22 points while knocking down 8 of his 11 shots including all three of his three-point attempts to lead the Peacocks. Jareese Williams and Quentin Blaue both scored 16 points, while Kyle Haber came off the bench to net 13 points and a team-high 7 rebounds. The quartet of Peacocks combined to convert 13 of their 21 long range attempts.

UIU's leading scorer Joe Smoldt struggled with his shooting, but handed out 6 assists to set up his teammates. The Peacocks played without starting center Munachiso Okonkwo; Cade Moritz got his first start and recorded 4 points, 4 rebounds, a block and a steal. Peghuentz Pericles scored 8 points off the bench as well thanks to a pair of threes. 

With seven and a half minutes to play in the game, Olson knocked down a pair of free throws to give the Peacocks their biggest lead of the game 73-57.  Over the next five minutes, the Miners took over outscoring Upper Iowa 21-7 cutting the margin to two points, 80-78. During the run, Missouri S&T hit four three-pointers including three by Jordan Newt. UIU turned the ball over three times during the run.

Over the final two and a half minutes, UIU made back-to-back threes thanks to the touch of Olson and Williams. Olson's final points of the night came on a fast break lay-up giving Upper Iowa an 88-82 advantage with just over a minute to play. Blaue made three of the final four free throw attempts to maintain UIU's lead for the four-point win, 91-87.

Upper Iowa used a few runs to build their lead in the second half. A 12-2 run broke a 13-all tie in the first half giving UIU their first double-digit lead of the game. Later in the first half, the Peacocks got turned a 4-point lead into a 14-point advantage with a 14-4 run highlighted by four three-pointers for UIU including a pair by Haber. 

Newt paced the Miners with 20 points thanks to 5 three-pointers and 5 free throws. Three others MST players reached double figures. With UIU playing small, the Miners took advantage on the glass pulling down a 53-31 advantage in boards. MST also notched big advantages in points in the paint 36-16 and second chance points 19-0, but Upper Iowa shot nearly 50% from the field, 45% from three and 89% from the charity stripe.

The Peacocks will head into the Northern Sun Conference schedule this week with a game at Winona State University. UIU and WSU will get together on Saturday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. in Winona, Minn.