ROLLA, Mo. – Missouri S&T will get its Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule underway Saturday afternoon when it hosts Illinois Springfield in a 3 p.m. contest at Billy Key Court.

The Miners come into their GLVC opener at 1-4 on the season after dropping two games in California over the holiday weekend, while the Prairie Stars bring a five-game winning streak into Saturday's contest and are 5-2 overall.  UIS last played on Monday, when it beat Lindenwood-Belleville 90-71.

Missouri S&T did bounce back from a sluggish start Friday against seventh-ranked California Baptist, outscoring the Lancers 38-30 in the second half in an eventual 73-62 loss.  S&T got 22 points from Chris Harris (Antioch, IL/Lake Forest Academy) and 17 from Ervin Sarajlic (St. Louis, MO/Oakville) – including five three-point baskets – in that contest. 

However, the Miners were unable to carry that momentum into Saturday, as a cold first half doomed S&T in its loss to Academy of Art.  Sebastian Ferenc (Zgierz, Poland/) had 13 to lead the Miners, who shot just 33.3 percent in the game.

Harris leads the Miners with an average of 16.4 points per game on the year and is one of four Miners scoring in double figures for the season.  In addition, he also has a team-high 14 assists and 15 steals to lead the conference.

Ferenc is averaging 14.5 points and a team-high 9.8 rebounds, which is good for fourth in the GLVC, while Sarajlic is sixth in rebounding with 9.2 a game to go along with his 10.8 points per game.  The fourth double figure scorer is Allante Pickens, who has been sidelined with an injury since the season opener.
 
ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD:  After dropping their first two games of the season, the Prairie Stars have rattled off five
consecutive wins to bring a 5-2 record into its GLVC opener Saturday.  All five UIS wins have come against teams outside of NCAA Division II, the most recent being Monday's victory over Lindenwood-Belleville.

Eddie Longmeyer, named two weeks ago as the GLVC's player of the week, leads the Prairie Stars with an average of 18.8 points per game -- the third-best mark in the league -- and has three games with at least 24 points under his belt this year.  He is one of three double figure scorers for UIS, as Aundrae Williams is averaging 10.9 per game and Lijah Donnelly is at 10.4 per contest.

Longmeyer is also the top rebounder for UIS with 7.8 per game and Logan Gonce is seventh in the GLVC in assists with 28.