SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (9-13, 3-9) won their second straight road game by beating Maryville 68-59 after a strong first half. UIS carried an 11-point advantage into the half and left St. Louis with a nine-point road win as they make a late season push for their fifth straight GLVC tournament bid.

The Prairie Stars got down early as Maryville jumped out to an early 11-2 lead as they hit their first three three point attempts and four of their first seven shots from the field.

After UIS weathered the early barrage of three's from the Saints, Jamall Millison connected on three straight free throws to cut the deficit to six after just four minutes of play. After ten minutes of play, UIS was down ten as Maryville continued to push the pace on offense.

Down 23-13 at the 9:19 mark in the first half, UIS needed a spark and they got one from Millison, who hit a jumper before JJ Cravatta hit one of his own to cut the deficit to six on consecutive possessions. This was the start of an 18-0 run from the Prairie Stars, who took their first lead following a three from Cravatta and two free throws from Zach Steinberg with 5:26 left in the first half.

A Richard Freeman layup was sandwiched between a three and a layup from Davi Austin that put UIS up eight with just under three minutes remaining in the half. Maryville didn't score again until 2:14 left in the half, going seven minutes and five seconds without scoring. UIS closed the half on a 5-0 run capped by an Austin layup at the buzzer to take a 36-25 lead into the half.

In the second half, UIS built their lead up to 12 early in the half but Maryville fought back and got the deficit down to as little as three, but Paxton Harmon responded with a three of his own and that was as close as it would get.

UIS pushed the lead to a game-high 14 points with just over a minute remaining and cruised to their third conference victory of the season and second straight GLVC road win.

Millison and Austin each had a game-high 15 points while Cravatta was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line as part of his 14-point night. Steinberg added six points and a game-high seven rebounds off the bench. The Prairie Stars made 17-of-21 from the charity stripe, including hitting all three of a three shot foul, twice, counteracting a 3-for-20 shooting night from three.

UIS will look for their third straight road win as they take on UMSL (9-12, 3-9) on Saturday in a game which has GLVC tournament implications.