SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (11-4, 3-2) bested the Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis (7-7, 2-3) by a score of 61-59 to win their fifth game in last six outings. The Prairie Stars turned a two-point halftime deficit into a two-point win behind 14 second half points from Eddie Longmeyer, who scored a game-high 18 on the night.

The Prairie Stars were led by their senior guard who grabbed nine rebounds and dished five assists to go along with his 18 points. Longmeyer led all players in the game in points, rebounds, assists, and steals while committing zero turnovers in 37 minutes.

Illinois Springfield wasted no time getting on the board as Logan Gonce hit the first three of the game and was followed by a three from Lijah Donnelly, putting UIS up 6-0 early. Later, tied at 15, UIS went on a 9-2 run, ending on another three from Donnelly to go up 24-17.

However, UMSL combatted that run by scoring the final nine points of the half, the final three coming on a trio of free throws with less than a second remaining to take a 26-24 halftime lead.

UIS opened the second half on a 12-2 run to go up by 10, their largest lead of the game. This also marked the last time UMSL would lead, as UIS would not relinquish the lead the rest of the game.

The Tritons cut the deficit to just two with 10:23 remaining, but a three from Gilwan Nelson ended the run and kept the Tritons at arm's length. The Prairie Stars hit just three of their final seven free throw attempts but UMSL ran out of time, hitting the final shot as time expired to push the final score to 61-59.

Nelson added 15 points and six rebounds for the Prairie Stars while Donnelly also eclipsed double-figures, scoring 13 on the night.

The Prairie Stars turned the ball over just six times, the fewest amount on the season and fewest since committing just four on February 9^th, 2013.

This is the first win for UIS over Missouri-St. Louis since January 23^rd, 2010 and snaps an eight game skid against the Tritons. Amazingly, four of the last five games have been decided by two points or fewer, dating back to 2014.

The Prairie Stars will head back on the road Saturday to take on Quincy University with tip-off set for 3:15 PM. UIS will then return home on Monday, January 15^th to take on McKendree, who the Prairie Stars just beat 86-72 last Saturday.