The Peacock men's basketball team was able to stop a three-game skid with an 87-80 win at home over Bemidji State University on Friday night. Upper Iowa shot 55% from the floor and had four players that scored in double figures to secure the win. UIU improves to 8-7 overall and 5-4 in the NSIC, while BSU falls to 9-6 overall and 4-5 in the conference.
 
Jake Hilmer led the Peacocks with 29 points, six assists and four rebounds, while Lucas Duax recorded 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Nick Reid hit a pair of big three-pointers finishing with 11 points and more importantly 10 rebounds, while Dylan Jones added 12 points and three rebounds.
 
A trio of Beavers made an impact on the offensive end led by Mohammed Kone, who scored 19 points and added 10 rebounds. John Sutherland and Dalton Albrecht each scored 18 points while collecting seven and five rebounds, respectively.
 
Five minutes into the game, Upper Iowa jumped out to an eight-point lead, 13-5, highlighted by four pull-up jumpers from Jake Hilmer. After BSU clawed back to within three, 15-12, the home team pushed their advantage back to nine points, 21-12, with 11:20 to play. Five minutes later, Upper Iowa still held a 30-22 lead when the visitors launched a 9-0 run capped off by back-to-back Kone three-pointers to take a one-point lead. Hilmer scored nine points in the final three minutes to hand the home team a 44-41 advantage at the break and head to the locker room with 18 points.
 
In the second half, a Bemidji State 14-5 run that spanned over four minutes of clock gave the Beavers a six-point lead, 59-53. Upper Iowa bounced back with a big run of their own outscoring their guests 16-5 over the next six minutes fueled by six points from Duax and five from Reid to get back on top by five points, 69-64. An old-fashioned three-point play by RJ Smith pulled the Beavers within four with three minutes to play, but a three-pointer from Hilmer and then a lay up by Jones jumped the advantage back to nine with just over two minutes to play. Smith knocked down a three-pointer with 39 seconds to play bringing BSU back to a one-possession deficit, but UIU scored the final four points of the game to lock up the seven-point victory, 87-80.
 
Upper Iowa will get right back onto Prochaska Court in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday when they welcome the Golden Eagles of the University of Minnesota Crookston. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. for the NSIC cross-division game.