The University of Northern Iowa defeated Stephen F. Austin 79-77 early Tuesday morning. The Panthers ended the Lumberjacks’ 34-game home winning streak, the second longest in the nation.
The Lumberjacks got an early lead but the Panthers answered back with a 9-0 run led by Marvin Singleton. Singleton went on to lead UNI in scoring with a career-high 15 points.
The Panthers acquired a 15-9 lead but was diminished with a 10-4 Lumberjack run led by Demetrious Floyd. Floyd co-led the entire game in scoring with 20 points with teammate Thomas Walkup.
Both teams gave each other fits as the split did not exceed three points until the end of the first half. The first half ended with the Panthers down 35-39.
The second half began with the Panthers putting up much needed points to gain an early lead. Deon Mitchell and Seth Tuttle teamed up for six points for the 41-39 lead. Mitchell and Tuttle finished with 14 points and 13 points, respectively.
The Lumberjacks gained a lot of momentum with an 11-1 run lead by Jacob Parker. Parker finished the game with 15 points. The lead was cut to 52-46 when true-freshman Wyatt Lohaus came up big with a pair of 3-pointers to tie the game once again. A Nate Buss 3-pointer put UNI up 55-54, but the Lumberjacks answered back with an 11-4 run.
UNI answered with an 11-0 run of their own to gain the lead. A Floyd 3-pointer and free throws from Walkup put the Lumberjacks in the lead 70-67 with 1:07 remaining in the game. Deon Mitchell came through in the clutch with a 3-point play to tie the game at 70-70. Neither team would score as the game went into overtime.
Overtime was a period of lead changes. Neither team could score consecutively until the last minute. Paul Jesperson and Wes Washpun combined for three points in the final minute to put the pressure on Stephen F. Austin.
The Lumberjacks were unable to score as Floyd missed a layup in the final seconds.
While the Lumberjacks had three players finish with 15 or more points, those three were the only players to score more than 10 points.
UNI’s scoring was distributed as five players scored more than 10 points.
The Panthers come back to Cedar Falls to take on Morgan State on Thursday, Nov 20 and North Florida on Saturday Nov. 22 to begin the Cancun Challenge.
