CANTON, OH --- The Illinois Springfield men's basketball team opened the 2017-18 campaign this weekend in Canton, Ohio, taking on Malone University and Hillsdale College at the GLVC/G-MAC Challenge. UIS fell on
opening night 74-54 to Malone before dropping their contest against Hillsdale 74-63.
On Friday, UIS fell behind 36-26 at the half, surrendering the final four points of the half after cutting the deficit to just six. Â
Malone scored the first 13 points of the second half, extending their run to 17-0, taking a 49-26 lead before
Zach Steinberg broke the scoreless drought with two free throws.
UIS shot 34.5 percent on the night and hit 7-of-29 from deep. The Prairie Stars were led in scoring by
CJ Payawal, a redshirt sophomore from Des Moines Area Community College. Payawal had ten points on the night on 4-of-5 shooting, hitting two of his three shots from deep.
Vince Walker made a trio of threes while
Logan Gonce dished out a team-high six assists. Steinberg grabbed seven of the Prairie Stars 32 rebounds on the night while freshman
Collin Stallworth had two points, three rebounds, two assists, and a steal in his collegiate debut.
In the final game of the crossover, UIS fell to Hillsdale, who improved to 2-0 with the win, previously beating Southern Indiana the day prior. The Prairie Stars scored 29 points in the first half and trailed by 13 but bested Hillsdale 34-32 in the second half.
Gilwan Nelson led the way in the game, scoring 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting and 3-of-6 from deep.
Lijah Donnelly poured in 11 points and had three assists while Steinberg added six points and eight boards.
Brandon Van Sant had four points, six rebounds and two blocks off the bench while
Aundrae Williams added six points on an efficient 3-of-4 shooting night.
The Prairie Stars will open up their home schedule on Monday night as they take on NAIA opponent Harris-Stowe State University with a 7:30 tip. UIS and Harris-Stowe met last season in which UIS won that match up 98-86 on December 14
th.
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