SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Upper Iowa men's basketball (16-10, 11-8 GLVC) lost, 82-77, to Illinois Springfield (17-9, 13-5 GLVC) on Saturday. Cael Reichter recorded his third double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Peacocks went on an 11-0 run over the first three minutes of the game. UIU shot 5-for-7 from the field with a 3-pointer, while UIS shot 0-for-4 from the floor and 0-for-2 from deep. Tate Petersen led the run with five points.
Illinois Springfield's Jordan Rice later hit a jumpshot, closing the Peacocks' advantage to 19-14 with 10:33 left in the half. Over the next two minutes, the Prairie Stars went 4-for-4 from the field, including a 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to one. Marlon Williams knocked down a 3-pointer a minute later, giving UIS its first lead of the night, 24-23.
Illinois Springfield went 5-of-10 (50%) on their next shot attempts, increasing its advantage to 38-28 with 2:33. Upper Iowa was 2-of-10 (20%) from the floor during that stretch. A Lewis jump shot and a Reichter three helped UIU cut UIS's lead to five late. Illinois Springfield's Britton Dutton responded with an and-one layup and a free throw to take a 45-37 lead into half.
Over the first three and a half minutes of the second half, the Peacocks shot 4-of-5 (80%) from the field and 2-of-3 (66.7%) from beyond the arc to trail, 52-49. The Prairie Stars were 3-of-7 (42.9%) from the field and 1-of-3 (33.3%) from deep during that time span. Kyle Hrncir was the leading scorer with five points.
UIU kept pace with UIS, closing the gap to 70-69 with six minutes to go off a pair of Lewis free throws. The score remained the same over the next two minutes, until Hrncir split a pair of free throws, evening the score. Rice hit a jumpshot moments after to take back the lead
Upper Iowa got within one again with two minutes to go, but an Isaiah Davis 3-pointer and a crucial offensive rebound by Alex Stell sealed the win. Stell also hit a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the game, giving Illinois Springfield an 82-77 victory.
Reichter added three assists to go along with his double-double. He also made his second 3-pointer of the season in the second half.
Jack Miller scored 17 points, shooting 7-of-14 (50%) from the field and 3-of-6 (50%) from the arc. The sophomore also had two assists and a rebound. This marks five straight games in double digits for him.
Lewis totaled 13 points, five assists and four rebounds. Hrncir had 10 points, nine rebounds, along with a team-high five assists and a team-high four steals. Petersen scored eight points, Eric Kenesie scored seven and Anton Fontin scored five.
Tye Banks led the Prairie Stars in scoring with 23 points, going 8-of-14 (57.1%) from the floor and 4-of-6 (66.7%) from deep. He also contributed eight rebounds. Rice recorded 14 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
Upper Iowa outscored Springfield, 38-34, in the paint and 14-7 in points off turnovers. UIS's bench outscored UIU's, 24-12. Prairie Stars also outrebounded the Peacocks, 40-32.
UIU made 30-of-67 (44.8%) shot attempts, 9-of-26 (34.6%) three and 8-of-13 (61.5%) on free throws. UIS was 28-of-58 (48.3%) from the field, 10-of-17 (37%) from beyond the arc and 16-of-22 (72.7%) from the charity stripe.
The Peacocks are seventh in the GLVC point rating system after the weekend with a 3.31 rating. Upper Iowa is ahead of Truman State (Mo.) (11-14, 8-9 GLVC) in eighth with a 3.15 rating, and Drury (Mo.) (13-13, 8-10 GLVC) is in ninth with a 2.97 rating. The top eight teams make the GLVC Tournament.
Upper Iowa concludes the regular season on Feb. 28 against Lewis (Ill.) (4-22, 2-16 GLVC) at 3 p.m. The Flyers lost, 74-60, to UIndy (15-11, 13-5 GLVC) on Saturday and play Quincy (Ill.) (10-16, 5-13 GLVC) on Thursday, Feb. 26.
