The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team dropped its final game at the Fairfield Inn Classic on Saturday in Warrensburg, Mo. The Prairie Stars fell to the host Central Missouri Mules by a 77-65 score.
 
UIS could not overcome a cold afternoon shooting the ball, especially from long distance. The Prairie Stars made just four-of-20 three-point attempts, including one-of-nine in the second half.
 
UIS was still able to keep the game close for a while. The Mules led 31-20 late in the first half, but over the final four minutes the Prairie Stars went on 14-5 run to trail by just a 36-34 margin at halftime.
 
In the early part of the second half, UIS tied the game three different times, but could never take the lead. A 7-0 run by the Mules midway through the period helped the home team go up by a 10-point margin, but UIS fought back again to trail just 59-55 with just under eight minutes remaining. The Prairie Stars ran out of game after that. UIS didn't make another field goal until the 3:20 mark, and the Mules were able to extend their lead once again to double-digits by that point.
 
Central Missouri finished the game making half of its field-goal attempts, while UIS was held under 40 percent shooting. The Prairie Stars forced 17 turnovers, but were only able to score 16 points off of the Mules' mistakes.
 
Gilwan Nelson led the Prairie Stars with 18 points, and Daniel Soetan had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Aundrae Williams and Peyton Allen both finished with 11 points.
 
UIS falls to 2-2 on the season. The Prairie Stars will stay in Missouri and will next face No. 5 Northwest Missouri on Monday evening in Kansas City, Mo.