Box Score

FAYETTE, Iowa -- Southwest Minnesota State suffered its first loss of the season on Friday night as Upper Iowa rallied for a 77-75 victory in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference men's basketball at Dorman Gym.

SMSU, 6-1 overall, 1-1 NSIC, held a 10-point lead at halftime, but committed 20 turnovers with 13 in the second half, allowing UIU to rally for its third straight victory and improve to 4-3 overall, 1-0 NSIC.

Joey Bartlett led the Mustangs with 20 points on 8 of 11 shooting with a pair of 3-pointers. Ryan Bruggeman poured in 16 points and added five rebounds and three steals. Mitch Weg also reached double figures in points with 10 and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

The Mustangs closed the game shooting 51 percent (31 of 61) from the field, but made just 5 of 16 from 3-point range. The Peacocks finished shooting 51 percent (29 of 57) from floor in the game and held a 14-2 scoring advantage in the second half on points off of turnovers.

SMSU held a 40-20 rebound advantage, but held just an 11-8 scoring advantage in second chance points.

SMSU led the game for nearly 37 minutes, before UIU took its first lead of the game with 2:07 left at 70-69. Bartlett answered with a field goal to give SMSU the lead once again, but UIU countered with a pair of free throws at the 1:45 mark to take a 72-71 advantage.

Bartlett would later give SMSU the lead back at 73-72 with 1:00 remaining on a jumper, but UIU's Luke Lenhart drilled a 3-pointer on the next possession to give the Peacocks a 75-73. Taylor Schafer answered with a field goal to tie the game, but UIU picked up a huge offensive rebound following a missed jumper on its next possession and was fouled with seven seconds remaining. Jordan Hay then hit both free throws to give UIU the lead at 77-75.

SMSU had one last chance to tie or win the game, but turned the ball over in the front court to seal the win for UIU.

SMSU scored the game's first eight points and would hold a double-digit lead for much of the final 10 minutes of the opening half. SMSU's largest lead of the game came at 35-19 with 4:57 left in the first half.

Southwest Minnesota State continues the weekend road trip tomorrow night versus Winona State starting at 6 p.m.