No. 22 Upper Iowa dropped their season opener in Warrensburg, Mo. in the first game of the Weekend Classic hosted by the University of Central Missouri on Friday. The Tigers of East Central University outscored the Peacocks 46-32 in the first half and then maintained their advantage in the second half to get away with an 85-70 win.
A pair of free throws by
Lucas Duax led to a 10-7 Upper Iowa lead a little over five minutes into the game, but the three-point margin was the biggest gap that UIU could put between themselves and the Tigers. ECU launched a 21-7 run over the next seven minutes and held Upper Iowa without a three-pointer in five tries during the run.
Austin Hilmer finally broke through with a three-pointer to cut the gap to 28-20 with seven minutes on the first-half clock. The Tigers kept the pressure turned up with another solid run that saw them increase their advantage to 16 points, 41-25.
In the second half, the lead grew to a high mark of 23 points, 74-51, as Upper Iowa couldn't find an answer to get their offense in gear. The Peacocks finally found their footing late in the half and cut the margin to 11, 81-70, but the team wouldn't get any closer.
Keyon Thomas led the Tigers with 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds, while Jakeem Acres added 17 points and Leonard Dixon scored 11 and snared five rebounds. ECU shot 54.5% from the floor and 44.4% from deep on Friday night.
Jake Hilmer led three Peacocks in double-figure scoring with 17 points, nine of which came at the charity stripe; Hilmer added six assists.
Dylan Jones recorded 13 points and picked up seven rebounds, while
Lucas Duax scored 12 and handed out five assists.
Nick Reid grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and scored nine points despite a tough shooting night. Both
Austin Hilmer and
Carter Janssen scored eight points in their Peacock debut.
Upper Iowa will get back onto the court in Warrensburg tomorrow when they battle the host Mules at 6 p.m.
