Box Score

MARSHALL, Minn. – Luke Lenhart tied a career-high with 27 points, connecting on seven 3-pointers to lead Upper Iowa to an 81-69 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in NSIC men's basketball on Friday night.
 
Lenhart finished the game shooting 7 of 11 from the field and made 6 of 8 free throws, while also dishing out three assists and committing zero turnovers in 34 minutes. Carson Parker added 18 points and seven rebounds for the Peacocks.
 
UIU (8-10, 4-5 NSIC), which has now defeated SMSU three straight times in Marshall, closed the game shooting 48 percent (28 of 58) from the field, including 11 of 21 from 3-point range.
 
SMSU (8-6, 4-5 NSIC) shot just 41 percent (24 of 58) from the field, its second lowest output of the season.
 
Mitch Weg led the Mustangs with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Carter Kirk added 10 points and six rebounds.
 
The opening half was close in the first 10 minutes with the score tied at 16, but UIU used 10-3 run to build a 26-19 advantage with six minutes and 43 seconds remaining.
 
The Peacocks would later take its largest lead of the half at 32-21 at the 4:33 mark, before a pair of free throws by the Mustangs' Michael Lee and a layup by Weg cut the deficit to 32-25. UIU would later push the lead back to an 11-point cushion before Joey Bartlett connected on a 3-pointer with 1:20 left in the half to make the score 36-28. UIU finished the half with a layup to take a 38-28 lead into halftime.
 
SMSU shot just 36 percent in the opening half, while UIU shot 49 percent. SMSU held a 24-15 rebound advantage in the half, including pulling down 11 offensive rebounds.
 
The Mustangs trimmed the deficit to 39-32 with 16 minutes left in the game, but the Peacocks countered with six straight points to extend the lead to 47-34 and never saw their lead shrink to less than 10 points for the remainder of the game.
 
SMSU defeated UIU 87-81 earlier this season in Fayette, Iowa.
 
Southwest Minnesota State closes the weekend tomorrow hosting Winona State (5-8, 4-5 NSIC) at 7 p.m.