The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team used a balanced team effort in order to pick up its second win of the season on Friday afternoon in Warrensburg, Mo. The Prairie Stars defeated Arkansas Tech by an 82-71 score in its first game at the Fairfield Inn Classic.
 
UIS's top two scorers, Peyton Allen and Gilwan Nelson, both had four fouls with 11:07 left in a close game, and Nelson fouled out with 10:40 remaining. The Prairie Stars played good defense the rest of the way, allowing just 12 points in the final 10 minutes of the game. Offensively, UIS spread its scoring around as it put 26 points on the board after Nelson fouled out.
 
The two teams were tied at 66 at the six minutes mark when Cole Harper had his biggest basket as a Prairie Star, scoring a layup to put UIS for good. Daniel Soetan, who had an offensive rebound right before Harper's basket, then scored five straight points to put UIS up by seven. The first came on a fastbreak layup after he stole the ball, and then he hit a three-pointer at the 4:16 mark. Arkansas Tech got within four twice in the final minutes, but UIS hit seven-of-eight free throws to put the game away.
 
The Prairie Stars finished the game shooting 52.9 percent from the field, including 63 percent in the first half when they jumped out to a 45-40 lead. They held Arkansas Tech to under 40 percent shooting for the game, including 32.2 percent from the field and 21.1 percent from three-point range in the second half.
 
Five UIS players had double-figure points, led by Allen with 22, including 11 points from the free-throw line. Vince Walker had 15 points, followed by Aundrae Williams with 14, Nelson with 12 and Soetan with 11.
 
Harper finished the game with a team-high 10 rebounds, and he tied for the team-high with three assists. Williams and Logan Gonce also had three assists, and Soetan had a team-high two steals and one of the team's two blocked shots.
 
UIS improves to 2-1 on the season. The Prairie Stars face Central Missouri on Saturday afternoon on day two of the Fairfield Inn Classic.