The Peacocks men's basketball team stumbled in their first game back in Dorman gym in nearly two weeks, dropping Friday night's game to the University of Mary Marauders 78-72. The Marauders knocked Upper Iowa's NSIC record to 3-14, while UMary inched closer to .500 by improving to 8-9.

Upper Iowa started the game with a bit of energy following two massive denials on consecutive plays from Munachiso Okonkwo. Jackson Joens fired up the Fayette faithful by immediately nailing a three on the following possession. UMary responded with a 20-6 run to put themselves back on top with a 28-19 lead. Okonkwo led the charge for UIU's offense in the first half with 10 points.

Midway through the second frame, the Peacocks found themselves in an 11-point hole. Upper Iowa bounced back with a 12-5 run, using three-pointers from Jackson Joens, Joe Smoldt, and Quentin Blaue to cut UMary's lead to just four. Big second half performances from Marauders Connor Hellebust (11 points) and Dennis Austin III (15) kept the Peacocks at bay as UMary was able to close out the second frame on top 78-72.

The Peacocks' three-point offense knocked down 12 long-distance shots to keep things within reach against the Marauders. Joe Smoldt led the charge by knocking down five shots from beyond the arc, Quentin Blaue had three makes, and Jackson Joens and Chris Olson each added two. 

Upper Iowa buried 26 of their 59 attempts on Friday for a field goal percentage of 41.4 percent. However, the Peacocks hit 14 of their 28 attempts inside the three-point line. 

For the seventh time this season, Smoldt was Upper Iowa's leading scorer with 19 points. Three other Peacocks to reach double digits against UMary: Munachiso Okonkwo (13), Quentin Blaue (11), and Jackson Joens (10).

After spending the last three years as a Peacock, UMary's Dennis Austin III made his return to Dorman Gymnasium one to remember. In his Fayette homecoming, Austin pulled in nine boards, recorded four assists, came up with a pair of steals, and led all Marauders in scoring with a season-high 22 points.  Austin was one of four players on the UMary roster to finish the night in the double figures: Connor Hellebust (19), Matthew Kreklow (12), and Jaylan White (10). 

The Peacocks will return to the floor on Saturday night to take on the Minot State Beavers. Tipoff for Saturday's game is slated for 5:30pm and can be viewed on UIUpeacocks.com/live as well as on the NSIC channel through Roku, Amazon Fire, Apple and Android tvs. The game against the Beavers will also be aired locally on KCRG-TV 9.2.