Friday, February 10, 2012

UIS men: Prairie Stars move within one game of first

Great Lakes Valley Conference men’s basketball coaches ranked the University of Illinois Springfield sixth out of eight teams in the West Division in their preseason poll.

Those voters underestimated the Prairie Stars. With its 78-63 victory over William Jewell on Thursday at The Recreation and Athletic Center, UIS is tied with Quincy for second place in the West. The Stars’ hopes of winning the division title are still alive.

With four regular-season games remaining, UIS has a 12-11 overall record and a 9-5 GLVC mark. The Stars’ next game is against visiting Rockhurst on Saturday at 3:15 p.m.

“We put ourselves in the position and we’re still competing for it,’’ UIS men’s basketball coach Ben Wierzba said of the division title.

The win was featured in an February 10, 2012, article in The State Journal-Register.

Read the article online