SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Missouri S&T's men's basketball team was unable to slow down Illinois Springfield Saturday afternoon, as the Prairie Stars handed the Miners an 87-62 loss in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.
UIS (12-5, 6-3 GLVC) shot 58.2 percent from the field and took command of the contest when it made a 10-0 run midway through the first half to drop the Miners to 11-6 overall and 5-4 in the GLVC.
The Miners and Prairie Stars swapped baskets over the first eight minutes of the contest, with the Miners holding a 6-3 lead following a lay-in by
Lovell Williams (Rogers, MN/Maple Grove). UIS scored four straight points to take the lead, then the game ended up being tied three times over the next four minutes, the last time at 16 apiece following a jumper by
Ikenna Okeke (Bolingbrook, IL/Romeoville).
Jack Weber scored for the Prairie Stars on their next trip down the floor to start the run that put UIS up for good. S&T trimmed the lead back to five after a free throw by
Micah Johnson (Ankeny, IA/Centennial) and baskets by Okeke and
Julien Smith (Fort Worth, TX/Northwest), but the Prairie Stars pushed the advantage back to 10 a short time later and kept it in double figures for nearly entire final nine minutes of the half.
UIS led 41-31 at the break, but S&T cut the lead down to six in the first minute of the second half following baskets by
Kaden Froebe (Lincoln, IL/Lincoln) and Okeke. However, the Prairie Stars worked the lead back into double digits just over a minute later and the Miners only got as close as seven after that, which came after a three-pointer by Williams at the 13:29 mark that made it 53-46.
The Miners were down by 10 after the under 12-minute media timeout, but UIS hit the Miners with a quick 6-0 burst that prompted an S&T timeout which was part of a stretch where it outscored the Miners 18-8.
S&T got 58 of its 62 points on Monday from its five starters, led by Smith with 15 points. Williams and Okeke had 12 points apiece and Froebe finished with 10 as S&T shot 47.2 percent from the field, but made only three-of-14 from three-point range.
Weber led the Prairie Stars with 16 points as UIS had five players in double figures. The Prairie Stars also connected 12 times from three-point range on 27 tries and outrebounded S&T 30-25, although Froebe was the top rebounder in the contest with eight.
Missouri S&T will return to Gibson Arena Thursday to host Truman State at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs picked up their second win in GLVC play Monday with a home victory over Southwest Baptist.
