Box Score #24 Upper Iowa 88 Wayne State 76

            #24 Upper Iowa shot 60 percent (17-28) in the second half as the host Peacocks broke away for an 88-76 NSIC South Division men's basketball win Saturday afternoon over Wayne State at Dorman Gymnasium in Fayette, Iowa.  Upper Iowa is now 12-1 and 6-1 in the NSIC South Division while WSC falls to 7-5 and 4-2 in league play.
            The Wildcats got off to a quick start, making 9 of their first 10 shots to open the game, and WSC held a 19-11 lead just over six minutes into the contest.
            WSC took their biggest lead of the game at 22-12 on a Jordan Janssen three-point play at the 12:58 mark.
            The 'Cats still held a 27-20 advantage at the 10:18 mark of the half when Upper Iowa scored eight quick points to take their first lead of the game at 28-27.
            The two teams traded several lead changes over the next several minutes and WSC pushed the lead back to four at 39-35 on a Janssen layup with 3:51 to go before halftime.
            WSC then missed their final six shots of the half and the game was tied 39-39 at intermission.
            The host Peacocks scorched the nets in the second half with hot shooting and never gave the Wildcats a chance to stay close.
            UIU opened the second half making 4 of 6 from 3-point range to start the second half and WSC never led again.
            A dunk by Janssen at the 17:08 mark pulled WSC within two at 50-48.
            Upper Iowa built a 10-point lead at the midway point of the second half (64-54) and the host Peacocks used over 60 percent shooting for the second half while maintaining a double digit lead most of the way to finish with the 88-76 win.
            Justin Eagins led Wayne State in scoring with 23 points.  It was the fourth time in the last five games that Eagins surpassed 20 points in a game.  Freshman guard Alec Millender added a season-high 19 points with Janssen scoring 17.
            Wayne State finished the game making 29 of 63 shots for 46 percent, going 6 of 13 from the 3-point line and 12-18 at the free throw stripe.
            Jareese Williams had a game-high 24 points to pace Upper Iowa in scoring.  Joe Smoldt contributed 18 points followed by Jake Hilmer (16) and Lucas Duax with 10.
            The Peacocks shot 51.9 percent for the game making 28 of 54 shots, including 17-28 in the second half for 60.7 percent.  UIU was 8-25 behind the 3-point line and 24-27 at the charity stripe.
            Upper Iowa held a 34-30 edge in rebounding over the Wildcats with Cody McCullough grabbing eight boards followed by Janssen with seven to lead WSC. 
            The Wildcats are off until Sunday, January 2nd when Wayne State plays at #23 Augustana in a 3:30 p.m. NSIC South Division contest at Sioux Falls.