The Peacock men's basketball team capped off their regular season Saturday night in Dorman Gymnasium with a wild 87-77 victory over the Vikings of Augustana University. Upper Iowa took the lead for good at the nine-minute mark of the first half, but never felt comfortable until late in the second half. With the win, UIU secures the six-seed in the NSIC South standings, and finishes their regular season with a 17-14 overall record and a 10-12 mark in the Northern Sun. Augustana drops to 15-13 and 10-12 in the league with the loss.
With the Wayne State College loss to Winona State University on Saturday, Upper Iowa secured the number-six seed in the upcoming 2018 NSIC/Sanford Health Men's Basketball Tournament. The Peacocks will head to Minot, N.D. next Wednesday, Feb. 21 for the opening round game against the Beavers of Minot State University, the number-three seed in the NSIC North. The quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game will take place Saturday-Tuesday, Feb. 24-27, at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D.
Carson Parker led all players on Saturday night, scoring a game-best 28 points on an extremely efficient 9-12 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 5-5 from behind the arc. The Peacock guard tallied eight rebounds and dished out a game-best eight assists to dominate the stat sheet on Senior Night. Parker led a quartet of Peacocks in double-figures in the game, with freshman
Joe Smoldt scoring 16 points, with 8 coming at the free throw line.
Dennis Austin III added 15 points and five rebounds, and
Jareese Williams put together the second highest total of his career with 14 points off the bench.
Upper Iowa got off to a great start in the game, leading 10-2 out of the gate with three-pointers by Parker. The senior was aggressive right from opening tip, and got the game started with a bang for the home team. The Peacocks pushed their lead to eight points at 20-12 with 13:08 to play in the first half. However, the Vikings pushed right back with a 12-4 run to tie the game at 24 four minutes later. A layup by
Munachiso Okonkwo gave Upper Iowa a 28-26 lead, and from that point on the Peacocks would not trail again.
UIU pushed the lead to nine in the half, and with 54 seconds left Parker capped a 16-point half with a trifecta to give the home team a 42-33 halftime lead. Upper Iowa outscored Augustana 16-6 in points in the paint, and shot 50% (14-28) from the floor. The home team was a selective 5-9 from behind the arc, with Williams and Smoldt hitting key three's to give the offense rhythm.
It took 6:45 into the second half for the Vikings to get back in the game, as the guests went on an 18-10 run to get within a point, 52-51. However, Upper Iowa responded with a pair of triples from Williams and a contested three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer from Parker. The senior from New Hartford, Iowa answered his 16-point first half with a 13-point effort in the second period.
Leading 70-68 with 4:58 to go, UIU used a big 9-0 run to ignite the crowd inside Dorman Gymnasium. Austin III got it started with an old-fashioned three-point play, and was followed by a three-pointer by Smoldt. After an Augustana turnover, Williams hit a big three-pointer with 2:06 to go to put UIU up 11 points, 79-68. Free throws the rest of the way iced the game for the Peacocks, ending a two-game losing streak to Augie.
Parker and Eighme wrapped up their home careers on Saturday, and will forever be linked to the success of the program. UIU has tallied 71 wins, 5 post-season wins, and a pair of firsts. The team went to their first-ever NSIC Tournament Championship Game a season ago, and won a Division II school-record 22 wins. UIU closes their home schedule with their first weekend sweep at home in the NSIC this season.
Brackets, tournament information, times, and much more for the 2018 NSIC/Sanford Health Basketball Tournament can be found at NorthernSun.org.
