Upper Iowa men's basketball provided its fan base a ride on an emotional roller coaster Sunday afternoon as they conquered Southwest Minnesota State 79-78 in an overtime thriller. UIU improved to 5-1 on the season and handed the 18^th-ranked Mustangs their first loss of the season as they fell to 4-1. 
 
The Peacocks honed in on several key elements of the game to aid in their victory. The home team hauled in 23 offensive rebounds and recorded 21 second-chance points. Despite Upper Iowa shooting 34% from the floor, while their opponents shot 50% for the game, the Peacocks managed to knock down 12 triples, while SMSU went 0-6 from long distance. 
 
Upper Iowa tallied 19 more shot attempts in the back-and-forth contest that saw 18 lead changes. UIU went 29-83, while SMSU shot 32-64 from the field. 
 
The Peacocks totaled seven blocks on the day, one sending the game into the extra session and the other to conclude the overtime period and seal the game, both from Nick Reid. 
 
Noah King paced the team in scoring with 28 points on 11-26 shooting while splashing 6-12 beyond the arc. Reid followed behind with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Ryan Heise notched 13 points. Kyle Hrncir dished out a team-high four assists. 
 
Eight minutes remained in the second half as Upper Iowa held a 64-59 lead. The Peacocks only mustered one basket in the next four and a half minutes, allowing the visitors to assemble a 9-2 run. Jack Miller broke the spell with a drive to the right side of the rim, followed by a King three-pointer to put UIU back on top, 71-68 with 0:56 left. 
 
The Mustangs went to the charity stripe with 10 seconds left after a foul under the basket. They converted the first throw, and an intentional miss on the second attempt allowed SMSU the rebound and a driving layup to tie the game (71-71) with just over one second left in regulation. 
 
Upper Iowa took the ball out of bounds and attempted to pitch it to their side of the court for a last-second shot, but a mis-throw into the rafters gave SMSU the ball back underneath their hoop for one last play. 
 
A lob pass into the post was put up and rejected by Reid to send the game into overtime. 
 
The Peacocks set the tone right from the jump as Gavin Hershberger nailed a three from the top of the key in the first 15 seconds of the extra period. The Mustangs then strung together a 7-1 run while UIU was stuck in a scoring drought, grabbing a 78-75 advantage. 
 
King netted a layup with 0:38 seconds remaining. With a stop on the defensive end after a Hrncir block at the rim, the Mustangs were forced to foul and sent Reid to the free throw line for two. The Peacocks were down 78-77, but Reid's two swishes pushed them ahead 79-78. 
 
SMSU put up one last shot on the other end, but Reid came up with a big block to seal the team's fifth victory on the year. 
 
Men's basketball is back in action on Monday, Dec. 2 against Quincy at 7 p.m. right here in Fayette.