FAYETTE, IOWA – Upper Iowa, ranked No. 19 nationally, held Southwest Minnesota State to 19 first half points and held off a second half Mustang charge to earn a 70-55 victory in NSIC men's college basketball on Friday night.
 
UIU, now 11-0 at home this season, improves to 21-4 overall, 15-4 NSIC, while SMSU drops its second straight game and is 12-10 overall, 8-9 NSIC.
 
Dunwa Omot led the Mustangs with a team-high 17 points on 5 of 10 shooting with three 3-pointers, while Grant Kramer would add nine points and five rebounds. Kenny Byers grabbed a team-high seven rebounds with teammate Jake Phipps pulling down six rebounds.
 
SMSU shot just 35 percent (18 of 52) from the field, while making 9 of 19 from 3-point range. It was Mustangs' third-worst shooting performance of the season.
 
UIU, which was led by Joe Smoldt's 14 points, closed the game shooting 39 percent (20 of 51) with eight 3-pointers. The Peacocks made 19 of 25 free throws, while the Mustangs finished connecting on 11 of 15 free throws.
 
Both teams struggled shooting to open the game as Mustangs scored their first points of the game with 13:57 remaining, but only trailed 5-2 with 12 minutes left in the half.
 
Anthony Costello connected on a jumper to cut the UIU lead to 8-4 at the 11-minute mark, but the Peacocks countered with a 12-2 run, making 5 of 7 shots, to extend the lead to 20-6.
 
Omot hit a pair of free throws to stop the run, but UIU came right back with a 7-2 spurt to build a 27-10 lead. SMSU would close the half making three of four field goals to cut the deficit to 33-19 at halftime.
 
The 19 points was SMSU's lowest 20-minutes output since scoring 19 in the first half of the season opener versus Rogers State.
 
UIU opened the second half with a 3-pointer and would eventually hold a 40-21 lead with 17:30 left in the game. SMSU's Cliff McCray hit a 3-pointer and after another UIU field goal, Costello would hit a jumper and moments later Kramer drilled a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 41-29.
 
SMSU would continue keep the game close and following a three-point play by Omot trimmed the lead to 50-40. Kramer would drill another 3-pointer with 9:33 left to get the Mustangs within single-digits at 52-43, but UIU countered with a 9-2 run to make the score 61-45 at the six-minute mark.
 
Kramer would make his third 3-pointer of the game with five minutes left to cut the UIU lead to 61-48, but once again the Peacocks would have an answer and put the game away holding the Mustangs scoreless over the next two minutes.
 
Southwest Minnesota State continues road play tomorrow night with a 5:30 p.m. match-up at Winona State.