Friday, February 18, 2011

UIS men finally find chemistry for victory

With less than 48 hours remaining in the season, the University of Illinois Springfield played one of its best stretches of basketball Thursday night against the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in a Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s game.

The Stars were unstoppable early, then held on for an 85-79 victory at The Recreation and Athletic Center.

“Different guys stepped up,” UIS coach Ben Wierzba said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to preach the whole time. It’s a team. It’s all 10 guys in the locker room. To see them get rewarded is joyful. They deserved the reward they got tonight.”

UIS dominated the first half and was ahead 43-31 at halftime, but the Rangers rallied in the second half. A pair of free throws by Parkside junior Leneal Harris, who rang up 29 points, cut the Stars’ lead to 74-73 with two minutes to go.

Steffen Spink’s 3-pointer gave UIS a four-point cushion with 1½ minutes remaining. Chigozie Umeadi stretched the Stars’ lead to 79-74 with 37.6 seconds left on the clock.

Jermaine Love-Roberts and Brandon Farmer helped sealed the win by making their free throws in the final seconds.

UIS led from start to finish. It took a total team effort to secure the victory.

The win was featured in a February 18, 2011, article in The State Journal-Register.

Download a PDF of the article