Upper Iowa University Athletics

Upper Iowa men's basketball concluded their regular season with a 78-68 victory over Southwest Baptist in Bolivar, Mo. The Peacocks finished their conference campaign with a 15-5 mark, placing second in the GLVC and earning the No. 2 seed in the postseason conference tournament.
 
UIU opened the game down 20-6 and spent the entire first half playing catch up. The visitors prevailed in their quest as a trio of actions involving a Nick Reid layup, Austin Hilmer three-pointer and Jake Hilmer pull up pulled the Peacocks out of the pit and gave them their first lead of the game, 33-31, at the halftime buzzer. 
 
The Peacocks and Bearcats entertained a back-and-forth contest in the second stanza. It wasn't until several key turning points under the seven-minute mark that gave Upper Iowa the upper hand. The visitors trailed 56-55 when J. Hilmer's trip to the charity stripe ignited a 6-0 Peacock run, including his two free throws, a driving layup to the rim from Noah King and a pull up jumper from J. Hilmer, giving them a cushion of 61-56. 
 
Upper Iowa remained at the forefront and following Kyle Hrncir's momentous and-one layup, the duo of J. Hilmer and Nick Reid netted nine free throws to end the game to outscore their opponents 9-5 and secure their ten-point win. 
 
The Peacocks finished the game shooting 51% from the floor and 47% from long range, as the Bearcats converted 53.6% from the field and 35.3% beyond the arc. UIU committed eight turnovers in comparison to their opponents' 20. Southwest Baptist outrebounded Upper Iowa 37-17. 
 
Hrncir and Austin Hilmer highly contested the Bearcat defense as they nabbed five and six steals, respectively. 
 
Reid and King finished as the team's leading scorers with 18 points apiece, followed by Hilmer with 15 and Hrncir with 14. 
 
Reid and Hrncir each hauled in six rebounds, while J. Hilmer dished out a team-high three assists. 
 
No. 2 Upper Iowa is set to face No. 7 Missouri-St. Louis in the first round of the GLVC Championship Tournament, hosted on the campus of Lindenwood in St. Charles, Mo. Game time is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 7 at 8:15 p.m. CST.