Box Score QUINCY, IL --- Looking for a third straight win, the University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) traveled to Quincy University in their first Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) game in nearly a month. The Prairie Stars (6-7, 0-3) fell to the Hawks (9-4, 3-1) by a score of 93-82 despite big games from Davi Austin and Jamall Millison.
After taking an early lead, the Prairie Stars fell victim to a 9-0 run by the Hawks as they took an 11-3 lead. The lead would grow to as much as twelve in the first half before the Prairie Stars battled their way back, continuously cutting into the Quincy lead. Bahari Amaya and Zach Steinberg hit back-to-back three's with under ten minutes remaining in the half to cut into the deficit.
At the end of the half, Paxton Harmon, Millison, and Austin each scored in the final 90 seconds to cut the halftime deficit to just six, trailing the Hawks 42-36.
In what was a very high scoring second half, the Prairie Stars came out hot, making two of their first three shots to push the score to 42-40. With 12:39 remaining, the Prairie Stars were finally able to take the lead, doing so on a layup from Harmon.
After runs from each team traded the lead back-and-forth, Austin hit a three to put UIS up 57-54 and give the Prairie Stars their biggest lead of the game. A quick 4-0 run put the lead back to the Hawks but Harmon once again came up with a big shot, hitting a three out of a timeout to give the lead and momentum back to UIS with just over eight minutes remaining.
A 19-6 run for the Hawks took control of the game for the home team, culminating with a three pointer to push the lead to 12 with just under five minutes remaining in the game.
Not to be outdone, UIS hit back-to-back three's by Steinberg and Bahari to cut the deficit to just six with 4:05 to play. Austin then drove for a layup, scoring his 24th and 25th points of the game, making the score 87-82 with just under a minute remaining.
That's as close as it would get though as Quincy hit their last 11 free throws of the game, not allowing the Prairie Stars to make a bid at completing the comeback. Â
Austin finished with a game high 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting and also added six assists, four rebounds, and four steals. Millison climbed over 900 career points with a 17 point effort while Richard Freeman, Steinberg, and Harmon all had double-digit games.
The Prairie Stars fall to 6-7 on the season and 0-3 in the GLVC with the loss and will travel to Truman State on Saturday as they look to get in the win column in conference play. Tip-off is set for 3 pm as they close out a two-game road swing.
