SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (5-7, 0-3) used a 10-0 run late in the second half to cut into the Truman State lead, but it wasn't enough as Illinois Springfield fell in their first game of 2017 by a score of 83-72. UIS cut what was a 24-point deficit down to just six with 2:36 remaining in the contest, but Truman State hit nine of their final ten free throws to thwart any run UIS tried to make.

Lijah Donnelly scored a team-high 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, which included a 3-of-4 mark from deep. Zach Steinberg ran his double-double streak to three with an 11-point, 10 rebound night, giving him his eighth of the season. On top of that, Paxton Harmon grabbed ten rebounds --- three on the offensive glass --- while dumping in seven points.

UIS came out hot, as Eddie Longmeyer began the game by hitting his first three attempt of the night before Kaj Days dropped in a layup to give UIS a quick 5-0 lead. Vince Walker answered his teammate by hitting back-to-back from deep to give UIS an 11-7 lead before Harmon got in on the offense by hitting the Prairie Stars' fourth three in the first four minutes.

A quick 5-0 run after being tied at 18 all gave UIS a 23-18 lead, capped by another three, this time off the hands of Brandon Van Sant.

Over the next four minutes, UIS would be outscored 13-0 as Truman State took a 31-23 lead before Donnelly ended the drought with two free throws. Down 13, Logan Gonce beat his man with seven seconds left in the half for a layup but Truman State would hit a 75 footer at the buzzer to take a 41-27 lead into the half.

The lead in the second half would grow to as much as 24 on two separate occasions, but UIS showed no quit. Down 68-49, Walker again connected from deep before a steal and layup from Donnelly gave UIS a quick five-point boost. This was followed by another three from Van Sant, forcing Truman State into a timeout as they saw their lead dwindle to just 11 with 6:30 remaining.

Two free throws from Walker cut the lead to single digits but a three from Truman stopped the rally. Donnelly's three with 2:36 remaining cut the deficit to just six but that's as close as UIS would get, as Truman closed out the game for an 83-72 win.

UIS will look to pick up their first GLVC win on Saturday as they host (RV) Quincy University for a 3:00 pm tip.