Jan. 19, 2008

Box Score

Upper Iowa hit the floor tonight in Dorman Gym looking to continue their hot play in recent weeks. The Peacocks have won four of their last six games including three of their last four NSIC contests. Minnesota, Crookston has played in quite a few close ballgames, but has been on the wrong end of the score in most of them. The last time these two teams met was a memorable 11:00 a.m. Sunday morning showdown last year after the power went out in Fayette the night before. After 33 minutes of tightly contested basketball, the Peacocks surged out to close the game on a 16-2 run over the final seven minutes to win their fourth Northern Sun game of the season, 70-54.

The Peacocks took their largest lead of the first half at the 13:00 mark, 16-8. The Golden Eagles battled back slowly chipping away until they tied the game at 18-18 with 6:36 to play in the half. The two teams played closely although the offenses took different approaches to scoring over the final minutes. UIU hit field goals as the half wound down to attain their 31 points, while UMC hit nine straight free throws over a five minute stretch to get to 31 as well. A.J. Adkins led the Peacocks at the break with 9 points and 4 rebounds.

After the visitors scored the first bucket of the half, the home team built a five-point lead, 41-36, just four minutes into the half. The two teams played evenly through the media timeout halfway through the second stanza. UIU went to the bench at 9:57 with a 49-44 lead. The Golden Eagles chipped away again and trailed by two, 54-52, with 6:49 to play, but that would be the closest the Peacocks allowed their guests to get. Upper Iowa closed the game out by outscoring Minnesota, Crookston 16-2 over the closing minutes to pull away with the victory, 70-54. The game-deciding run was fueled by six points from Jude Roybal and five points from Storm Schmitt.

The victory improves the Peacocks' record to 5-13 overall and 4-5 in the Northern Sun. Upper Iowa is now tied with MSU Moorhead and Concordia-St. Paul in fifth place in the conference.

Adkins led the home team with 15 points and 5 rebounds, while Matt Lesan added 12 points, 5 boards, and 3 steals. Roybal scored 10 points and handed out 3 assists. Chris Sullivan chipped in 4 points, 3 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 4 assists, while Storm Schmitt netted 7 points and pulled down 8 rebounds.

The Peacocks will look to remain hot at home in Fayette with a pair of NSIC games next weekend. UIU will host the Marauders of the University of Mary on Friday and the Wolves of Northern State University on Saturday. Both games are scheduled to tip off at 8 p.m.