(TRUMAN STATE)--A three-pointer by Upper Iowa’s Trevor Hook was the last of 13 lead changes as the Peacocks defeated the Bulldogs 75-68 in the final tune-up before conference play tips off on Wednesday. E.J. Hicks led Truman with 17 points as the Bulldogs fall to 2-5 on the season.
Upper Iowa (3-1) led by as many as seven points three times in the first half before the Bulldogs went on a 10-2 run capped off by Isaac Gardner’s four-point play to give the Bulldogs their first lead of 23-22 with 7:12 in the first half.
A three-pointer by Bo Pagel with 44 ticks remaining in the half knotted the score at 32 apiece.
Truman would take their largest lead as five points with 17:21 left on a pair of free throws by Patrick Burmester but then the game see-sawed over the next five minutes before Hook’s three-pointer turned a one-point Truman lead to a two-point Peacock advantage with 10:57 left.
Upper Iowa grew the margin to as many as nine but a three-point play by Hicks with 1:32 trimmed it back to just three with 1:32 showing.
Following a turnover, Tom Norton missed on a tying trey attempt and Jake Hughes took a pass from Sam Elgin to extend the lead to five with just under a minute to play. Hughes would finish off the game with a pair of free throws late.
Hicks was 6-of-9 from the field and made five of six free throw s to finish with a season-high 17. Mike Carlson was the only other ‘Dog in double-figures with 11.
The Bulldogs shot 40% from the field but struggled from outside connecting on five of 20 three-point tries.
Tucker Wentzien paced the Peacocks with 17 points as the home team shot 50% from the field but just 52% from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs will begin play in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association as they will face nationally-ranked Missouri Southern State University at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday on the road in Joplin.
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