SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team struggled to slow down Illinois Springfield's Daniel Soetan and the Prairie Stars' three-point shooting for the majority of the night Thursday as UIS downed the Miners 87-74 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Soetan scored a career-high 33 points – the most allowed to an opposing player by S&T this season – to pace the Prairie Stars (13-10, 6-9 GLVC), who shot 51.7 percent from the field and made close to their season average with 12 three-point baskets.

The Prairie Stars held the lead throughout the game, using the three-point shot to gain the early advantage and continuing throughout the first half.  UIS, whose 12.2 three-pointers per game entering Thursday's game was the sixth-best mark in NCAA Division II, went eight-of-14 from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes and built as much as a 12-point lead before taking a 40-34 advantage into the locker room.

S&T (5-16, 3-12 GLVC) stayed within reach of UIS for much of the second half, but could never get the margin under eight once the Prairie Stars got their lead back into double figures.  CJ Hedgepeth (Evansville, IN/Harrison) hit a three-pointer at the 5:52 mark that got the Miners to within nine at 71-62, then a three by Jordan Newt (San Francisco, CA/Malibu) on S&T's next trip down the floor trimmed it to eight with just over five minutes remaining.

The Miners made six-of-14 from three-point land in the first half, but connected on just three-of-15 from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes of play.

Dulan Scott (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) led three Miners in double figures with 19 points, while Hedgepeth finished with 14 and Dawson Berry (Centralia, IL/Centralia) with 12.  Hedgepeth, Berry and Newt combined to hit eight of S&T's nine three-pointers in the game.

S&T outrebounded the Prairie Stars 34-30, but committed 15 turnovers that led to 17 UIS points.

The Miners play their final road game of the season Saturday when they face Lewis in a 3 p.m. game in Romeoville, Ill.