KENOSHA, Wis. - Upper Iowa men's basketball (2-0) beat Roosevelt (0-2) on Saturday, 88-76. UIU dominated the second half, 44-31, and had Trey Lewis, Tate Petersen, Kyle Hrncir and Cael Reichter all reach double figures.
Upper Iowa controlled the final 10 minutes of the second half, outscoring Roosevelt 23-9. Petersen, Hrncir and Lewis each scored six points during that stretch, while Jack Miller added three and Reichter recorded two.
UIU opened the game on a 10-2 run after Roosevelt scored the opening bucket. Hrncir gave Upper Iowa its first four points, all off layups. Then, Lewis scored a layup, followed by a Reichter dunk and layup.
The Lakers went on a 7-0 run, cutting the lead to 10-9. The Peacocks gained momentum back around the 14:30 mark. This sequence included a four-point play by Ty Pflughaupt after being fouled on a 3-pointer. The Peacocks led 31-22 with 8:15 left in the opening half, before Roosevelt struck back.
A 3-pointer by RU's Jalen Windham ignited its team to go on a 19-5 run over the next seven minutes. Windham scored 10 points during the run and helped the Lakers take a 42-36 lead with 1:37 to go.
Then, Petersen nailed a shot from behind the arc to narrow the gap, 42-39. A Miller layup and an Eric Kenesie 3-pointer cut the deficit to 45-44 at halftime.
After a free throw by Rosevelt's Griffin Yaklich, the Peacocks scored seven unanswered to lead 51-46 with 17:41 left in the second half. The scoring began with a second-chance bucket by Reichter, followed by a Miller 3-pointer and a Hrncir layup.
Roosevelt cut UIU's lead to 51-48, but the Peacocks quickly rebuilt their cushion. Petersen hit back-to-back treys, and Lewis also knocked down a 3-pointer to give UIU its first double-digit lead of the night at 65-55.
Lewis led the way with a team-best 16 points while adding five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Petersen followed with 15 points, knocking down 4-of-6 (66%) from three, along with two rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Hrncir starts his season with back-to-back double-doubles as he finished with 13 points, shooting 5-for-10 (50%) and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds. The senior also added four assists, a block and a steal. Reichter rounded out the group with 12 points and seven boards.
Windham was the leader for the Lakers with 32 points and four rebounds. He went 10-for-20 (50%) from the field and shot 4-of-11 (37%) from three.
UIU outscored RU 40-28 in points in the paint and 13-6 in second-chance points. Upper Iowa also outrebounded Roosevelt, 41-24. Peacocks went 33-of-66 (50%) from the field, while the Lakers went 24-of-51 (47.1%) from the field.
Upper Iowa travels to Warrensburg, Missouri, to play Central Missouri (3-2) at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday and then travels to Hammond, Indiana, to play Purdue Northwest (Ind.) (0-2) on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT.
