QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University men's basketball team played host to the league's top scorers in the Peacocks of Upper Iowa University who average nearly 90 points per contest.

Zion Richardson continued his incredible form, scoring 30 points, becoming the first Hawk to do so since November of the 2020 season, although the effort was not enough to overcome an 88-84 defeat. 

Quincy opened the contest scoring the first five points on a three and a dunk from John Kelly III. QU remained ahead until the 11:32 when a UIU jumper gave the Peacocks the lead 14-13. 

Upper Iowa held the advantage for the final eight minutes of the frame to take a 49-42 lead into the half. Richardson poured in 16 of his game-high 30 in the first half of play. 

UIU opened the second half with a 7-2 run to push the advantage to 56-44 and continued to press the issue, running the lead up to as many as 17 nearing the midway point of the half. 

Late in the half with the Peacocks leading 84-72, Quincy went on a 10-2 run in three and a half minutes to narrow the advantage to 4 at 86-82 with 54 second remaining. The Hawks were able to creep within three, but couldn't complete the comeback effort as UIU closed out an 88-84 victory. 

QU shot very well in the game as a team, converting on 50% of shots in the first half (17-34) with an equal 50% in the games second frame (16-32) in addition to an 80% clip from the charity stripe (12-15). 

An even 40-40 split in rebounds between the sides improved upon the Hawks rebounding total as a team, but a 12-6 edge for the Peacocks in offensive rebounds proved to be a deciding factor in the game. 

The Hawks leading scorer and rebounder in the contest, Richardson, dropped the first Quincy 30 piece in over three years while also leading his squad with 8 rebounds. Joining Richardson in double figures was Kelly with 11 and Isaiah Foster with 10. 

Next up for the Hawks is trip east to Springfield to take on the Prairie Stars of Illinois-Springfield on Saturday (Jan. 20). Tip-off for the GLVC showdown is slated for 3:00 PM.