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.
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