SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (6-3, 1-1) nearly erased a 17-point second half deficit, cutting the Rockhurst (5-4, 2-1) lead to just one, but the comeback effort fell short by way of a 77-74 defeat to the Hawks.

The Prairie Stars were led by senior guard Eddie Longmeyer, who notched yet another double-double --- his fourth of the season --- with 18 points and 10 assists. Lijah Donnelly was right there with Longmeyer, scoring 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, including 2-of-2 from deep and 3-of-3 from the line.

Longmeyer led the Prairie Stars in points, rebounds, assists, and steals on the night, dishing three assists and picking up three takeaways.

In the first half, UIS outplayed the Hawks, sans Quinton Curry, who totaled 16 points on 8-of-9 from the field. UIS fell behind 38-32 at the break, despite a big half from Donnelly, who cashed in 11 points in the opening half.

The Hawks began the second half with a 6-0 run to push their lead to 12 and then saw that lead grow to as much as 17 with 13:07 remaining. Trailing 59-42, UIS began their comeback on a jumper from Collin Stallworth and three from Aundrae Williams. A 7-0 run was capped on a layup from Zach Steinberg and UIS trailed by just 10 with 9:57 to play.

Trailing 63-51 with 7:42 remaining, UIS began a 10-0 run on a jumper from Longmeyer, who then made two free throws and another jumper to cut the deficit to just six. Williams put in a layup before another Longmeyer jumper cut the deficit to just two with just under five minutes to play.

UIS could never regain the lead though as the Hawks pushed the lead back to six with 57 seconds remaining. Two free throws from Williams was followed by two more from Donnelly, coming on a technical foul issued to the Hawks. Down just two with the ball, UIS was unable to capitalize and trailed by four with 10 seconds remaining before Williams hit a three with three seconds remaining to trail by just one.

Rockhurst capitalized on all their free throws down the stretch though, hitting their last eight attempts of the game and six in the final 25 seconds.

The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for the Prairie Stars, their longest since the 2008-09 season. UIS will return to action on Saturday as they travel to Kentucky State for a non-conference game. UIS and the Thorobreds played in Springfield last year with Kentucky State leaving victorious. UIS will close out the calendar year with two more non-conference games on Saturday, December 16^th against Glenville State and Monday the 18^th against Lincoln Christian.