Northwest Missouri State produced a balanced attack in their 91-82 victory over Upper Iowa on Friday evening at the Small College Basketball Champions Classic. The Bearcats led the entire game and held a 17-point advantage with eight minutes remaining in the contest. The Peacocks were unwilling to give into defeat and cut the deficit to six points (86-80) with just over a minute remaining. However, Northwest Missouri State strung together five straight points before UIU netted their last basket of the game with a Jake Hilmer jumper, coming up eight points shy at the final buzzer. 
 
The Bearcats hounded the offensive boards as they came down with 11 of them and capitalized on it by scoring 12 second chance points, whereas the Peacocks only converted two points on two offensive rebounds. 
 
Northwest Missouri State found their other edge at the free throw line as they went 27-32 (84.4%) at the charity stripe, 28 of those attempts coming from the second half as UIU committed six fouls to put them in the bonus eight minutes into the second stint. Upper Iowa did not shoot up to their standards at the foul line tonight as they converted 11-17 (64%). 
 
Both teams shot a similar percentage from the floor as the Peacocks went 33-57 (57.9%) from the field and 5-15 (33.3%) from long distance, while Northwest Missouri State netted 29-53 (54.7%) from the field and 6-15 (40%) beyond the arc. 
 
The Bearcats did not allow the Peacocks more than a four-point run in the first half as their stifling defense kept them to 32 points. Northwest led by ten (42-32) after the first 20 minutes of play. 
 
Both teams exchanged punches in the next half, going basket for basket, but it was Upper Iowa who outscored their opponents 50-49 in the second stanza. Their second half performance came up shy in catching Northwest Missouri State's lead. 
 
Hilmer led the Peacocks in scoring with 26 points on 11-18 shooting. Noah King netted 16 points on 6-14 shooting and paced the team with five rebounds, while Caleb Delzell netted 13 points, including going 3-4 from downtown. Ethan Steinbronn gave the squad a lift from the bench as he contributed eight points and shot 100% from the floor (4-4). 
 
Northwest Missouri State's Wes Dreamer led all scorers with 30 points going 10-17 from the floor and 5-9 beyond the arc. 
 
Despite the loss in Aberdeen, S.D this evening, the Peacocks set a Small College Basketball Champions Classic tournament record in field goal percentage as their mark of 57.9% beat the previous best mark of 57.1%, set last year by Ferris State.
 
Upper Iowa hits the hardwood again tomorrow as they take on Northern State in their second game of the tournament at 7:30 p.m.