Upper Iowa fell to Minnesota State University Moorhead by a 98-84 count on Saturday evening. The game stood even at the break but a second half surge pushed the Dragons past the Peacocks. Upper Iowa moves to 7-7 on the year, 4-4 in conference play. MSU Moorhead improves to 8-6 this season, 4-4 within the NSIC.
The Peacocks and the Dragons played a closely contested first half. Neither team led by more than two scores during the period. Upper Iowa pulled away for their largest lead of the game after seven unanswered points put them ahead 34-28 with 5:52 left on the clock. Four of the points during the stretch came from back-to-back layups made by Dylan Jones. The teams continued to battle ending the first half in a draw at 47 points apiece.
Upper Iowa's reserves outscored the MSU Moorhead bench 22-16 in the half. The Peacocks also held the advantage from the floor as they converted 63.3% of their field goal attempts compared to a 57.6% mark posted by the Dragons.
Cade Moritz led the Peacocks on the offensive end. Moritz had 10 points on an impeccable 5-5 from the floor in the first half. Just trailing Moritz was Joe Smoldt who had eight points in the frame, shooting 3-4 (75%) from the field including 2-3 (66.7%) from downtown. Joshua Carter did it all for UIU in the first frame tallying seven points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal.
MSU Moorhead came out of halftime on fire as the Dragons started the half on a 10-3 run including seven consecutive unanswered points. The stretch put MSU Moorhead up 57-50 with 16:57 to play.
The Dragons extended their lead to double-digits when they scored three straight layups to top off a 12-7 advantage that put MSU Moorhead up 69-57 with 11:21 to go. An 8-3 stretch extended the Dragons lead to 84-70, the largest advantage of the game with 3:44 remaining.
The double figure deficit was too much to overcome for the Peacocks resulting in the 98-84 loss.
STATS OF THE GAME…Â
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Upper Iowa held the advantage from downtown, UIU went 9-28 (32.1%) from deep compared to a 4-14 (28.6%) total posted by MSU Moorhead.
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Upper Iowa had six double-digit scorers: Mortiz (13), Jake Hilmer (12), Smoldt (11), Carter (11), Jareese Williams (11), and Lucas Duax (10).
PEACOCKS OF THE GAME…Â
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Moritz had a team-high 13 points and came down with three rebounds.
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Hilmer followed with 12 points, came down with four boards, and dished out a team-high three assists.
UP NEXT… Next weekend, the Peacocks return to Fayette for the first time since Dec. 14. Upper Iowa will host Augustana University on Friday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. and then welcome Wayne State College on Saturday, Jan. 11 at 5:30 p.m. Live options will be available at UIUPeacocks.com/LIVE.
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