SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars picked up their first win in conference play in emphatic fashion, beating the William Jewell Cardinals 79-69 after a 49-point outburst in the second half. Down seven at the break, the Prairie Stars hit big shot after big shot in the second half, culminating with a 16-point victory to improve to 7-9 on the season and 1-5 in the GVLC.

Zach Steinberg picked up right where he left off last game by hitting his first three of the night to give the Prairie Stars an early lead. The Cardinals took the lead and saw it grow to as much as six in the first half, before Jamall Millison hit his first three of the night. That led to back-to-back baskets from Paxton Harmon before Millison drained another from deep to give the Prairie Stars a 24-22 advantage.

In the final four minutes, the Cardinals scored 15 points to close the half, as the Prairie Stars didn't hit a shot from the field in the final 2:54 of the half. Down 37-30 at the break, the Cardinals were in good shape to pick up their first GLVC win of the year.

Down 10 after just over two minutes had passed in the second half, the Prairie Stars found their spark when Richard Freeman hit a jumper before Steinberg made a layup which preceded a three from JJ Cravatta to complete a 7-0 run to cut the deficit to just three.

A layup from Davi Austin completed the comeback for the first time as he tied the game at 47 with 13:20 remaining in the half. Steinberg connected on back-to-back trips for the Prairie Stars, giving them a four point lead with over 11 minutes to go.

Needing a late push to put the game away, Austin combatted a Cardinal layup with one of his own before Cravatta and Millison connected on back-to-back three's to push their lead to a game high 16 with under two minutes to play.

Cravatta closed the game out by sinking two free throws before a final three point attempt fell short for the Cardinals as UIS picked up its first conference victory of the season after a 49-point second half.

Millison ended with a game-high 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting after starting just 1-of-5. He also hit 4-of-8 from deep and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Cravatta added 13 points, hitting three three's and four free throws while Steinberg completed his third double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Austin had nine points but dished out five assists to complete a combined nine assists/two turnover effort between him and Logan Gonce.

The Prairie Stars will now host McKendree on Monday night before heading back on the road for games at the University of Indianapolis and Saint Joseph's on Thursday and Saturday.