With its raucous student section on holiday, the Upper Iowa men's basketball team secured a thrilling 103-99 double-overtime victory before a civil yet vocal Dorman crowd in the team's home finale Saturday afternoon. 
 
Scoring repeatedly at the free throw line allowed the Peacocks to hold the slimmest of leads for most of the second half and both extra periods.
 
The Peackocks' misses at the charity stripe also gave the visitors from Lewis University hope, as the Flyers mounted several comebacks to tie the game at the end of regulation, the end of overtime, and provided Lewis a brief lead early in the second overtime. 
 
But with March 1st sunshine streaming through the upper balcony windows, the Peacocks, behind 29 points from guard Noah King, eclipsed the 20-win mark and powered to the four-point victory. Upper Iowa, now 3-0 in overtime contests this season, avenged an earlier loss to Lewis, the 8th-ranked team in the Midwest Region. 
 
The Peacocks sank 36 of 51 from the foul line, while the Flyers converted 23 of 29.
 
UIU struggled to find its footing early on, trailing LU 10-1 after the initial minutes and by as much as 13 (26-13) with 7:53 left to play in the first half. The Peacocks shot 31% from the floor in the opening session, while the Flyers netted 57%.
 
A nine-point ball game was trimmed to six as a Caleb Delzell three-pointer cut the deficit to six, 36-30, heading into halftime. 
 
Upper Iowa saw an improved shooting performance in the second stint, netting 54% from the field and 54% from long range. The home squad opened the second half with four three-pointers in the first five minutes, bolstering their scoring and taking a 51-45 lead with 14:56 left to play. 
 
The overtime sessions consisted of the Peacocks playing without GLVC leading scorer Nick Reid, who had fouled out before the conclusion of regulation. 
 
Jack Miller notched seven points in the second overtime period, including the last three free throws of the contest to seal the victory. 
 
Kyle Hrncir recorded a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds. 
 
Men's basketball earned the #3 seed in the GLVC Tournament and is set to play #6-seeded Truman State on Friday at 2:15 p.m.