Upper Iowa fell 90-85 to Minot State University in overtime on Friday night. Jake Hilmer led the Peacocks with 25 points, 14 of which came in the final 6:47 of regulation. Lucas Duax registered his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Duax brothers both set career-highs as Max scored 12 points and Lucas dished out six assists. Following the game, Upper Iowa moves to 10-7 overall and 8-5 in the NSIC while Minot State improves to 9-6 overall, 7-4 in conference play.

Minot State used an early 15-2 run to go ahead 22-14 with 8:37 to play in the first half. The Beavers went 6-10 (60%) from the field amid the stretch while the Peacocks struggled to score posting a 1-11 (9.1%) rate from the floor. The Peacocks used a 7-2 run to get within two scores at the 3:11 mark. Five made free throws highlighted the stretch as UIU went 7-8 (87.5%) from the line in the first frame compared to a 3-7 (42.9%) rate posted by MiSU. Minot State then scored five unanswered points to end the half ahead 34-25. Upper Iowa went 0-13 from deep in the first frame. It was the first time UIU went scoreless from beyond the arc for an entire half since December 2016. 

Upper Iowa exploded out on a 21-8 run to begin the second half. The stretch gave UIU the lead for the first time in over 17 minutes. Upper Iowa returned to form from beyond the arc hitting all four of their attempts from deep during the run. Joe Smoldt, Jareese Williams, and Jake Hilmer combined for 20 off the 21 points scored during the stretch which put the Peacocks ahead 46-42 with 15:04 left in regulation. Amid the run, Smoldt passed current graduate assistant Carson Parker on Upper Iowa's all-time scoring list claiming eighth place in the record book with 1,477 career points. Smoldt, unfortunately was forced to leave the game due to injury shortly after at the 9:40 mark. The Beavers batted right back with an 18-7 run that put MiSU ahead 60-53 with 8:53 to play. 

The Peacocks followed suit with an 18-7 advantage of their own going ahead 74-71 with 2:01 remaining in the second half. Hilmer fueled the comeback with 10 points including a crucial three-point play to take the lead. Minot State scored back-to-back unanswered baskets to go up 76-74 with just 59 seconds to spare. Hilmer took control of the game, hitting a pair of free throws to tie things up at 76 with 50 seconds left on the clock and again with a jumper to knot it up at 78 all with 18 seconds on the clock. Max Cody missed the potential game-winning layup on the ensuing position as the Peacock defense forced the extra period. 

Overtime began with five points from Max Duax matched by a trio of layups from Minot's Melvin Newburn putting the game at 84-83 with 1:19 to play. The Beavers converted 4-6 free throw attempts to make it a five-point game with 23 seconds to go. Williams was fouled on a three-point attempt with two seconds remaining, the senior sank the first two attempts before intentionally missing the third. The ball was then rebounded by MiSU, UIU immediately fouled, the Beavers sank both free throws ending the game 90-85 in favor of Minot State.

STATS OF THE GAME… 

• The Peacocks forced 17 turnovers and scored 21 points off of them. 

• After an 0-13 mark from three-point range in the first-half, UIU connected on four straight deep balls to begin the second half.

PEACOCKS OF THE GAME… 

• Hilmer led UIU with 25 points along with five rebounds, four steals, and a trio of assists.

• Lucas Duax had an impressive spread of 13 points, 12 rebounds, a career-high six assists, and a pair of blocks.

• Smoldt had 13 points, four rebounds, and two assists in his shortened outing.

• Max Duax had a career-high 12 points to go along with four rebounds.

• Williams finished with nine points and nine rebounds.