SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) men's basketball team upset the University of Southern Indiana (USI) with a 79-70 victory during Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
UIS (14-9, 6-7) is fresh off a 79-54 loss to Bellarmine University (21-2, 12-2), which is ranked No. 7 in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II poll. The Prairie Stars faced the task of taking on their second consecutive opponent that is receiving national attention. USI (19-6, 10-3) is receiving votes in the latest NABC NCAA Division II poll and is ranked No. 25 in the latest Division II Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA) poll.
 
"I'm pretty proud of our guys. We took a good tail kicking by Bellarmine, which is a really good team. You always wonder how you're going to bounce back and we certainly did. It was a team effort."
 
Two points of emphasis for the Prairie Stars were defensive rebounding and limiting turnovers. UIS gather 71.9 percent of Southern Indiana's misses and the Prairie Stars turned the ball over just six times. USI committed just eight turnovers.
 
Eddie Longmeyer cashed in 23 points to lead the Prairie Stars. The 6-foot-3 senior guard from St. Louis, MO hit 9-of-12 (75 percent) shots from the free-throw line.
 
"Eddie is a first-team all-conference player and they have one in [Alex] Stein."
 
Vince Walker netted 10 points and Logan Gonce provided nine points.
 
"I thought Logan was playing well and Vince hit a couple of big shots for us."
 
Freshmen Aundrae Willams and Collin Stallworth both turned in eight points.
 
"Aundrae and Collin were terrific. They're going to be fun to watch the next three plus years."
 
Zach Steinberg added eight points, Gilwan Nelson scored seven points, Brandon Van Sant provided four points and CJ Payawal rounded out the UIS scoring effort with two points.
 
Stallworth, Nelson and Steinberg each recorded seven rebounds.
 
Southern Indiana's Emmanuel Little finished with a double-double, producing 23 points and 10 rebounds. Little sank 8-of-12 (66.7 percent) shots from the field and 7-of-9 (77.8 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
Alex Stein powered to 22 points and Marcellous Washington dished out five assists.
 
UIS drained 28-of-57 (49.1 percent) shots from the floor and 7-of-16 (43.8 percent) attempts from 3-point range. The Screaming Eagles converted 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) attempts from the field and 2-of-16 (12.5 percent) shots from behind the arc.
 
USI sank 18-of-20 (90 percent) shots from the free-throw line while UIS made 16-of-21 (76.2 percent) attempts from the charity stripe.
 
The Screaming Eagles outrebounded the Prairie Stars by a 35-30 margin.
 
USI started out of the gates, taking an 11-2 lead with 15 minutes, 6 seconds left in the first half. The Prairie Stars gained some momentum and tied the game at 15-all with 10:56 to go in the first half. Both teams remained within four points of each other for the rest of the half. The Prairie Stars took a 26-25 lead with 4:59 to go in the half after Stallworth knocked down a 3-pointer. Julius Rajala made two free throws to take a 33-32 lead with 31 seconds left in the half, but Willams provided a jumper at the buzzer to give the Prairie Stars a 34-33 advantage at the half.
 
Stallworth made a basket 25 seconds into the second half. Little cashed in on two possessions, including a fast-break dunk to give USI a 37-36 lead. Longmeyer swiped the lead back by draining a 3-pointer. Two possessions later, the Prairie Stars began a run where they scored points on nine consecutive possessions. UIS held a 59-48 advantage with 11:31 to go.
 
The Screaming Eagles took their turn at chipping away at the lead and cut the deficit to 61-60 with 5:28 remaining.
 
"We told our guys that you know they're going to make a run at you. I would like to say that we're going to win by 20 or 30, but the reality is that they are a battle-tested team and we hung in when it counted."
 
Vince Walker responded with a critical 3-pointer to take a 64-60 lead. UIS made two defensive stops and Longmeyer finished a bucket-and-one situation to extend the UIS advantage to 67-60 with 3:58 to go. Washington hit a jumper but Nelson drained a 3-pointer to take an eight-point lead. Nate Hansen made a layup and UIS came up empty on the next possession. USI did not capitalize on the next possession. TRAC erupted when Gonce finished a bucket-and-one situation to put the game out of reach.
 
"It's a good win for the program. We'll celebrate a little [on Thursday] and get ready for another tough one on Saturday."
 
UIS battles William Jewell College (17-6, 7-6) on Saturday at 5 p.m. in TRAC.