The Peacock men's basketball team nearly dug themselves out of a massive first-half hole on Friday night in Fayette when they took on the Wildcats of Wayne State College. Wayne State grabbed and 18-point lead at halftime and held on for a 69-61 win in Dorman Memorial Gymnasium. UIU falls to 13-10 overall and 10-7 in the NSIC, while WSC improved to 16-7 overall and 11-6 in the conference.

After trailing by as much as 20 points and only converting six field goals in the opening half, Upper Iowa rallied and had a three-pointer to tie the game with just over a minute to play in the game. The Peacocks shot 6-32 (18.7%) from the field including 1-14 (7.1%) from deep in the first half. UIU's defense kept the home team in the game allowing just 36 points led by Lucas Duax, who tallied three steals and two blocks in the game. 

Eight minutes into the game, Jake Hilmer scored on a layup to pull within three, 13-10, but the score was the last for UIU until a layup by Caleb Delzell with under six minutes to play. The six-minute scoring drought allowed the Wildcats to extend their lead to double digits. WSC outscored UIU 23-8 over the final 12 minutes to take a 36-18 lead into the locker room.

Upper Iowa opened the second half with an 8-1 run to cut the gap to 11 points, 37-26, in the first two and a half minutes. The teams played even for several minutes, but Wayne State was able to slowly push their lead back to 17, 57-40, midway through the second half. Nick Reid fueled an 8-0 run with a pair of three-pointers over a four-minute span to cut the margin to single digits, 57-48.

The Wildcats pushed their advantage back to 12 points, 62-50, with four and a half minutes to play, but the Peacocks put one last charge together to give the home team a shot at completing the comeback. UIU spent the next three minutes cutting the Wildcat lead to three points, 63-60, with a 10-1 run that was highlighted by six more points from Reid and was capped off by a jumper in the paint by Austin Hilmer. 

After a steal by Austin Hilmer, the Peacocks had a shot to tie the game with just over a minute to play. Jake Hilmer's three-point try missed and Wayne State closed out the final minute outscoring their hosts 6-1 highlighted by 4-4 shooting at the free throw line. 

Jake Hilmer scored a game-high 25 points, but needed 25 shots to get there as the rim was unkind on Friday night to the Peacocks. Lucas Duax scored 14 points and added six rebounds, three steals and two blocks. Nick Reid scored 12 points and pulled down eight rebounds. 

Jordan Janssen and Nick Ferrarini both scored 17 points to lead Wayne State, while Nate Mohr and Justin Eagins both scored 11 points. Janssen grabbed nine boards, while Cody McCullough pulled down eight rebounds and Jay Saunders snatched seven boards. 

Upper Iowa will host the Vikings of Augustana University on Saturday in Fayette at 3:30 p.m.