QUINCY, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) men's basketball team outlasted Quincy University with a 94-89 overtime victory during Saturday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
UIS (12-4, 4-2) moved to 3-5 since becoming a Division II school in road games against Quincy (4-11, 0-6). The largest road win for the Prairie Stars against the Hawks is a 106-99 win in 2014.
 
"We found a way to get a road win at a place that UIS has struggled at for year," UIS coach Bill Walker said.
 
After trailing UIS by 48-36 margin at halftime, Quincy surged back in the second half and both teams ended regulation deadlocked at 82-all. The Hawks ran out of gas as the Prairie Stars outscored Quincy 12-7 in overtime.
 
"I was not happy with our defensive execution in the second half but we got enough stops to win."
 
Gilwan Nelson notched a career-high 27 points for the Prairie Stars. The 6-foot-5 junior forward from Mount Vernon, IL knocked down 9-of-13 (69.2 percent) shots from the field and 5-of-7 (71.4 percent) attempts from 3-point range.
 
Eddie Longmeyer put together a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Zach Steinberg also turned in a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-10 junior center from Wildwood, MO also blocked two shots.
 
Lijah Donnelly contributed 11 points and five assists while Logan Gonce cashed in 10 points. Vince Walker tallied seven points, Aundrae Williams provided four points and Collin Stallworth rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points.
 
Demetrius Houston led Quincy with 19 points. Bobby Frasco and Marsalis Johnson scored 13 points apiece while Ryan Briscoe, Tanner Stuckman and Marcus Hinton each added 12 points.
 
Briscoe dished out seven dimes and Johnson produced two blocks. Houston. Hinton, Frasco, Briscoe and De'Andre Alexander each collected four rebounds.
 
The Prairie Stars found the hot-shooting hand as they drained 32-of-59 (54.2 percent) shots from the floor and 11-of-21 (52.4 percent) from the perimeter. UIS hit 18-of-28 (64.3 percent) shots from the field in the first half. The Hawks converted 33-of-73 (45.2 percent) shots from the floor and 7-of-20 (35 percent) attempts from downtown.
 
UIS sank 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) shots from the free-throw line while Quincy made 16-of-24 (66.7 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
The Prairie Stars outrebounded the Hawks by a 36-27 margin. Quincy topped UIS 14-6 on second-chance points despite having two fewer offensive rebounds.
 
UIS turned the ball over nine times while Quincy committed just four turnovers. The Hawks outscored the Prairie Stars 14-2 off turnovers.
 
During the first half, UIS steadily built a 23-15 lead. Quincy went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to three but UIS outscored Quincy 21-12 for the remainder of the first half.
 
The Prairie Stars held a 63-49 advantage with 13 minutes, 32 seconds to go in the second half. Quincy chipped away at the lead and Houston drained a 3-pointer to even the score at 78-all with 2:57 left in regulation. The Hawks took the lead with a jumper from Briscoe. Donnelly responded with a bucket to tie the game at 80-all with 1:54 remaining.
 
After both teams traded a pair of scoreless possessions, Briscoe made the go-ahead layup with just 11 seconds to go. On the following possession, Gonce was fouled and hit a pair of free throws to tie the game with four seconds left in regulation. Houston made a coast-to-coast drive to the basket but was not able to close the game out.
 
Vince Walker hit a 3-pointer to get the UIS offense started in overtime. Hinton took a drive to the basket to make it a one-point game. After Vince Walker hit a pair of free throws, Houston converted on a bucket-and-one situation to tie the game at 87-all with 2:33 to go. On the next possession, Gonce responded with a bucket-and-one situation of his own. Hinton trimmed the lead to 90-89 with 1:23 to go. After Longmeyer drained a pair of free throws, Quincy missed a 3-pointer and was forced to foul. Longmeyer hit two more free throws with 22 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach.
 
The Prairie Stars entertain McKendree University (10-6, 1-5) in conference play next Monday at 7:30 p.m. in TRAC. UIS then wraps up the week by challenging Maryville University (12-3, 4-2) in a GLVC matchup next Saturday at 3 p.m. in St. Louis, MO.