SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - No. 6 Bellarmine used hot shooting to take down the University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team 80-60 on Thursday evening at the Recreation & Athletic Center.

Junior Jamall Millison (Bolingbrook, Ill.) was a bright part to the Prairie Stars night as he tallied 22 points - two shy of his career high - on 8-of-12 from the floor including five from long range. The guard dished out two assists and had a steal with no turnovers in 34 minutes of play. Sophomore Mark Weems (Chicago) chipped in 14 points on 6-for-10 from the floor with four rebounds and a steal.

The Prairie Stars hung with the Knights in the first five minutes of the game tying it twice by 14:09 before Bellarmine took control of the game. The visitors used a 10-1 run to take a 21-12 lead at 10:09. UIS crept back into the game and eventually made it  31-26 with 4:20 left in the stanza.

Illinois Springfield came up empty on its next four possessions as Bellarmine ended the half on a 9-0 run to hold a 40-26 edge at the break. The Knights shot 62 percent in the first half and Chris Whitehead recorded 10 of his 21 points in the opening frame.

Five minutes into the second, the nationally-ranked Knights ballooned their lead to 20 and never looked back. UIS pulled to within 16 several times down the stretch, but could not shut down Bellarmine's hot-shooting.

For the game, Bellarmine was 33-for-50 from the floor for a 66 percent clip, while UIS went just 42 percent on 21-of-50. The Knights capitalized the paint, outscoring the Prairie Stars 38-10 inside.

Leading scorer Jake Thelen recorded 14 points in the second half to finish the game with 22 on a perfect 10-for-10 outing from the floor. George Suggs joined in double digits with 11 points.

UIS now takes on Southern Indiana who will look to rebound as the Screaming Eagles lost to McKendree on Thursday. Game time is set for 3 p.m. and all kids are free for BOS Family Day.