INDIANAPOLIS – The No. 11 UIndy men's basketball (9-2, 1-2 GLVC) failed to overcome a slow start on Saturday, dropping 79-69 decision to the Illinois Springfield Prairie Stars (7-3, 1-2 GLVC) at Nicoson Hall.
 
UIS drilled 43.8 percent of its attempts from 3-point range, while UIndy could only muster seven deep balls on 26 tries.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Prairie Stars were on a mission in the opening 20 minutes, nailing eight of their first 11 attempts from beyond the arc to build a 39-21 advantage. Trevor Lakes and Marcus Latham each scored seven points, with the former sinking a trio from the charity stripe just before the half to squeeze the deficit down to 15.
 
UIndy maintained its charge late into the second half, finally getting within single digits after Lakes' only 3-pointer of the contest. A free throw from Jimmy King put the Greyhounds within five, but the Prairie Stars made the stops when necessary to hold off the raging UIndy squad before the final buzzer.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
-Latham finished with 18 points and is now averaging 14.5 tallies in 25.5 minutes per game off the bench
-King scored eight more on Saturday and is now just seven points from becoming the 42nd UIndy men's basketball player ever to surpass 1,000 in his career
-Three Greyhounds secured six rebounds in the loss, with Latham leading the way with nine boards
-Miles Wayer contributed in eight minutes as a reserve, recording three rebounds and one assist
 
MORE NOTES
Daniel Soetan scored a game-best 24 points for the Prairie Stars … UIndy is now 9-2 all-time against UIS.
 
HOUND BYTES
Head coach Stan Gouard: "Those guys had a ton of confidence. We can't hang our heads when we aren't making shots, but we have to control what we can like rebounding. We played a decent second half defensively, but it wasn't enough because we got down too much. We have to take the game more seriously."
 
UP NEXT
UIndy will welcome No. 12 Southern Indiana next Thursday evening from Nicoson Hall. The Screaming Eagles have won each of the last four games against the Greyhounds.