ST. PAUL, Minn. – Upper Iowa's Caleb Delzell hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 31 seconds remaining to give the Peacocks a thrilling 85-83 victory over Southwest Minnesota State in non-conference men's basketball on Saturday night inside the Gangelhoff Center. The game was part of the Concordia-St. Paul Thanksgiving Tournament.
 
SMSU's Jake Phipps, who scored a team-high 20 points, gave SMSU an 83-82 advantage with a pair of free throws with 44 seconds remaining, but on the ensuing UIU possession, Delzell hit a corner 3-pointer to give the Peacock the lead.
 
SMSU (2-2) had a chance to win the game moments later, but Aeron Stevens missed a 3-pointer with three seconds left in the game. UIU (3-2) secured the rebound and would make one of two free throws with 1.5 seconds remaining to seal the win.
 
Phipps finished the night making 7 of 12 field goals with a pair of 3-pointers to pace the Mustangs, while Stevens scored a career-high 17 points on 7 of 14 shooting with two 3-pointers. Jakob Braaten also scored a career-high, pouring in 16 points on 6 of 12 from the field, including a perfect 3 of 3 from 3-point land. Mekhi Shaw reached double figure scoring for the first time in his career with 10 points and also dished out four assists.
 
Braaten and Phipps eache pulled down a team-high seven rebounds for the Mustangs, which played the game with second leading scorer, Dunwa Omot, playing just two minutes due to an injury.
 
SMSU finished the game shooting 50 percent (31 of 62) from the field, including drilling 13 of 23 3-pointers. However, the Mustangs struggled from the free throw line, making just 8 of 16 free throws. SMSU held a 39-27 rebound advantage, but the Peacocks committed just six turnovers, while the Mustangs finished with 14 turnovers, leading to an UIU 18-4 scoring advantage in points off of turnovers.
 
SMSU rallied back from a 66-52 deficit with 14:42 left in the game, using a an 18-2 run over four-plus minute stretch to regain the lead at 70-68 following a Mason Lund jumper midway through the half. The Mustangs made 6 of 8 shots during the run including 3 of 3 from 3-point range.
 
The game was tied at 78 with 5:19 remaining following a free throw by Stevens, but both teams would struggle to score over the next three minutes before Stevens connected on a 3-pointer to put SMSU back in front at 81-78 with just under two minutes left in the game. However, on the ensuing UIU possession, UIU answered with a 3-pointer by Nick Reid to tie the game once again.
 
UIU held a 24-17 advantage with 12 minutes left in the opening half before Matt Thompson drilled his first career 3-pointer for the Mustangs to cut the deficit to 24-20. UIU would continue its hot first half shooting and use a 9-4 run to extend the margin to 33-24 with just over eight minutes remaining in the half.
 
SMSU would use a three-point play by Braaten and a layup by Phipps to trim the UIU lead to 35-31 with 4:46 left, but the Peacocks closed the half on a 14-8 run to take a 49-39 halftime advantage.
 
Noah King led UIU with 27 points on 11 of 18 shooting, while Jake Hilmer added 17 points and nine assists.
 
SMSU concludes the weekend in St. Paul on Sunday with a 2 p.m. match-up versus Truman State (Mo.).