Jan. 11–

Craig Heiman's three- pointer at the buzzer rimmed out

It was a tale of two halves as Upper Iowa (3-12, 2-4 NSIC) used a 33-9 run to begin to start the second half to overcome a 43-29 halftime deficit en route to a 71-68 win over the Golden Bears (9-6, 3-3 NSIC) in conference action at the Gangelhoff Center Friday night.

The Golden Bears jumped out to a quick 20-4 lead in the first seven minutes on baskets by six different players, led by Mike Cunningham's (Minneapolis, MN) six points.  Cunningham finished with 11 points in the contest.

Concordia would stretch their first half lead to as many as 21 points at 41-20 with 3:55 to play and 43-22 at 3:25.  Eight players scored in the first half, led by sophomore Craig Heiman (Marshall, WI) with ten points.  He would finish with a team-high 18 points.

The Golden Bears got 17 points off the bench in the first half, let by freshman Andrew Kuderer (Eden Prairie, MN), who scored a career-high seven points in the first half, shooting 3-4 from the floor, including 1-1 from beyond the arc.  Freshman Matt Hackl (Seymour, WI) also had seven points in the first frame.

Upper Iowa ended the first half on a 7-0 run to cut the Concordia lead from 43-22 with 3:25 to 43-29 at the break.  

Trailing 62-50 with 5:30 to play, Craig Heiman scored eight points the rest of the way to help CU reclaim the lead against UIU

The Peacocks started the second half in the same fashion, scoring the first two points of the half and went on to outscore Concordia 33-9 over the 14 minutes of the second half to take a 62-50 lead with 5:37 left in the game. 

Concordia did not surrender though as they chipped away at the lead getting a three point play by Heiman, followed by a Heiman jump shot to cut the lead to four at 62-58 with 3:37 to play. 

After pair of Peacock free throws, Concordia countered with a free throw by Heiman and Cunningham and a jump shot by Jason Birr (Burnsville, MN) to get within two at 64-62 with 2:53 left. 

They would tie it at 64-64 on a pair of free throws by Cunningham and even take the lead at 66-65 on a Cunningham layup with :59 seconds remaining.

Mike Cunningham used his athleticism by attacking the rim to score a majority of his 11 points

But Upper Iowa's Matt Lesan would make four straight field goals to give the Peacocks a 69-66 lead with :26 to play.  Heiman would hit a circus layup while falling to the ground with :09 to play to get the Golden bears within one, but Chandler Adams would secure the win with a pair of free throws with :03 to remain.

A Heiman three point attempt at the buzzer would be just long off the back of the rim.

Matt Cadwell (St. Paul, MN) finished the night with 13, giving him 999 career points.

Upper Iowa was led by Matt Lesan with 26 points, with 17 coming in the second half, while AJ Adkins added 13 points.

Drew Votis records one of CU's six blocked shots

The Bears shot an impressive 58.6% in the first half making 17-29, but converted just 9-27 (33.3%) in the second half.  Upper Iowa finished the night 23-54 (42.6%) from the floor.

They secured the win at the free throw line making 14-15 (93.3%) in the second half and 18-21 (85.7%) for the game, while Concordia struggled from the line converting just 11-19 (57.9%).

The Golden Bears were outrebounded 37-29.  Upper Iowa's Neil Gross finished with a game-high ten rebounds.

Concordia will host #4 Winona State in NSIC action tomorrow night at 8:00 in NSIC action.

photography courtesy Bob Cunningham

BOX SCORE - Upper Iowa 71, CU 68