LIBERTY, MO --- Paxton Harmon had a career night, hitting six three's to lead Illinois Springfield past William Jewell 89-85. The 6'5 senior forward from Warsaw, Illinois scored a career-high 27 points, besting his previous high of 20 which he managed last Saturday against Quincy.

The game began auspiciously for the Cardinals as they hit their first three field goals and two free throws in the first two minutes to take a 9-0 lead and force  UIS into an early timeout. Zach Steinberg got things rolling for the Prairie Stars out of the timeout and sparked an 8-0 for UIS over the next 90 seconds, culminating with Harmon's first triple of the night.

UIS took their first lead at the 12:37 mark when Vince Walker connected for his first three of the night to give UIS a 12-11 lead before hitting another on the next possession. Harmon followed with his second three of the night to extend the UIS lead as the Prairie Stars connected on five consecutive three point attempts. UIS extended their lead to as much as eight with just under ten minutes remaining.

William Jewell fought back to take a 29-27 lead before the two teams traded baskets for the rest of the half. UIS ended the half on a 7-0 run, the last five of which were netted by Harmon, to take a 41-38 lead into the break.

In the second half, Harmon gave UIS their biggest lead of the half with another three at the 10:34 mark to put UIS up 64-54. William Jewell answered with a 14-2 run to take a 28-66 lead before Brandon Van Sant tied the game up which led to yet another Harmon three pointer to give UIS a three-point lead, one they would not relinquish.

In the last two minutes of the game, UIS closed by making nine of the last 12 free throw attempts and hit 8-of-9 during a stretch to close the game out 89-85.

UIS hit 12-of-22 from deep for a 54.5 percent mark. The 12 three's is the most in a game since they hit 15 last year against Lewis in the opening round of the GLVC tournament. Harmon's six triples is the most since January of 2015 and his 27 points is the highest single game output for a Prairie Star this season. It's also the fourth highest single game total in UIS history, tying marks set by Jamall Millison and JJ Cravata.

Vince Walker connected on four three's on the night, his third straight game with at least four hits from deep and fifth such game of the season. Walker totaled 17 points on the night to go along with 13 from Eddie Longmeyer and 12 from Steinberg. Lijah Donnelly totaled six points and three assists while not committing any turnovers and Logan Gonce added five points and two assists off the bench.

Longmeyer had a team-high six assists on the night, marking the tenth time this season he has led the team in assists.

In addition to the hot shooting, UIS only turned the ball over six times, the least amount in any game this season by four.

UIS will look for back-to-back GLVC wins on Saturday as they take on Rockhurst. Due to possible inclement weather, the game has been pushed forward to a 2:00 pm start.