Upper Iowa men's basketball came up short in its conquest against Missouri-St. Louis in a 70-67 decision. The Peacocks battled back from a 12-point deficit to trail by one, but could not regain the lead before time expired.
Upper Iowa trailed 64-55 with just over four minutes remaining. They executed a 12-2 run that was kick-started from a
Jack Miller three-pointer, a steal on the other end that was followed up by a layup from
Noah King. Miller would find another layup at the rim before
Nick Reid rattled off five straight free throws, two from bonus shots and three after being fouled on a long-range shot attempt. This cut the deficit to one, 65-64 with 1:27 remaining.
The Tritons went to the line on the other end to shoot bonus with 47 seconds left, and made both to lead by three, 67-64.
A missed three-point attempt by Upper Iowa forced them to foul, and put UMSL at the charity stripe where they knock down one, staying out ahead 68-64.
UIU came down the floor and Reid nailed a triple in the corner to put the team behind by one 68-67. A Peacock steal in the full court press set them up for a driving layup at the rim, but a charging call gave UMSL possession and forced Upper Iowa to foul once again.
Missouri-St. Louis went to the free throw line with seven seconds left and made two, putting the red and gold up 70-67. Upper Iowa raced down the court but missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer to give the Tritons the victory.
The Peacocks trailed 35-33 after the first half, and UMSL came out of the intermission hitting three-pointers on their first two possessions. After a Hrncir layup, the Tritons outscored the visitors 13-4 across the next six minutes to put them up 54-42, their largest lead of the night.
The Tritons out-rebounded the Peacocks 44-29, and hauled in 14 offensive rebounds and netted 14 second-chance points.
UIU shot 40% from the floor and 28% from long range, while UMSL converted 46% from the field and 33% beyond the arc.
Reid led the team in scoring with 23 points and went 9-9 at the charity stripe.
Noah King chipped in 12 points and went 5-10 from the floor.
The Peacocks are back home next weekend as they host Illinois Springfield on Thursday, Feb. 20 and McKendree on Saturday, Feb. 22 for Senior Day.
