The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team never trailed in its season opener on Friday night at TRAC in Springfield, Ill. The Prairie Stars jumped out to a big lead and held on for an 89-82 victory over Quincy.
 
The two teams were tied at the first media timeout, but UIS went on a 29-10 run to take a 19-point lead with 6:38 remaining in the first half. Quincy fought back and got within five by halftime at 49-44. The Prairie Stars were hot offensively in the first 20 minutes, shooting over 60 percent from the field, including eight-of-11 from three-point range. Quincy stayed close though by making 12 more free throws in the period.
 
The second half saw UIS unable to pull completely away, but Quincy being unable to ever take a lead. The Hawks got within two at 73-71 with just under seven minutes left. The Prairie Stars scored the next five point, and Quincy never got with one possession for the remainder of the game.  
 
UIS finished the game shooting 51.7 percent from the field and 47.6 percent from three-point range. Quincy was held to 42.9 percent shooting from the field, and just 32.1 percent from beyond the arc.
 
The Prairie Stars had four players in double-figure scoring, led by Chase Robinson who had his third career game with 30 points. He was 11-of-19 from the field and had six rebounds. Trey Marble had 23 points in his first game in a UIS uniform. Keymonta Johnson finished with 17 points, and Matt Wendling had 13.
 
Collin Stallworth led the Prairie Stars with eight rebounds and five assists, and had the team's only block. Robinson had a team-high +12 plus/minus, one more than Johnson and four more than Stallworth.
 
The Prairie Stars will have their first road game next Thursday at nationally-ranked Southern Indiana.