WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State University men's basketball team entered their NSIC season opener against the Upper Iowa Peacocks on a four-game winning streak, a series of victories all earned on the road. On Tuesday, WSU found home court unfriendly, falling on a buzzer-beater 3-pointer to the Peacocks, 82-81.  

Connor Dillon led Winona State with 23 points and eight rebounds and Luke Martens added 18 to the Warrior effort. Declan Dillon also reached double digits on the score sheet, notching 10 points and dishing out three assists. 

Winona State led by 16 at the break, but UIU closed the game in the second half, leveraging a foul in the final 12 seconds on a Peacock 3-point attempt to pull within three at 80-77. After a pair of missed Warrior free throws, UIU converted on two free throws of their own with 5.3 seconds to go to draw within one point at 80-79.  

On the ensuing inbounds play and with just five seconds left in the game, WSU's Owen King latched on to the entry pass and was immediately fouled. King hit one of his two free throws to stretch the Warrior advantage to 81-79.  

Then, the improbable happened. 

UIU's Jake Hilmer took the Peacock inbounds pass after King's successful free throw, dribbled three quarters of the length of the court and launched an unbalanced 3-pointer at the buzzer that found pay dirt, giving Upper Iowa the 82-81 win. Hilmer had been 1-of-8 from behind the arc up to that point in the game. 

As a team, Winona State hit 25-of-61 (41.0%) from the floor in the contest. WSU was 9-for-29 (31.0%) from three-point territory and hit 23-of-26 (83.3%) free throws.  

With the loss, Winona State moves to 4-1 overall and 0-1 in the NSIC, while Upper Iowa improves to 2-3 overall and a 1-0 league mark. WSU is next in action on Monday, November 28, hosting Viterbo University.  The Warriors and V-Hawks will tip off at 7:30 p.m.