The UIS men’s basketball team had a tough week at TRAC, losing by narrow margins to St. Joseph’s (78-76) on Thursday and the University of Indianapolis (70-67) on Saturday.

Thursday’s game started with Eddie Longmeyer, Lijah Donnelly, Vince Walker, and Paxton Harmon taking the court and Zach Steinberg for the tipoff.

In the first half the Prairie Stars made a strong showing, leading 32-29 at halftime.

The second half was a slightly different story. UIS managed to keep a small lead for most of the game, and with steals that led to buckets like that of Logan Gonce, it was difficult for the Pumas to work on the court.

Ultimately, though, the game ended with a devastating defeat as St. Joseph’s took a 78-76 lead with less than a minute on the board.

Head coach Bill Walker said of the game, “You get a lot of close games like that, it comes down to a play or two. … We tried to zone them some and got out of it. We went man the whole second part of the game; it worked a little better, but the offensive rebounds by them consistently was a problem.”

“If we’d have won, trust me, I would have felt better and we would have high-fived,” Walker said of the close score, “but we have to move on to the next one. … They hit big shots with guys in their face, and that’s to their credit.”

Walker saw positives out of the Prairie Stars, as well.

“I thought we hit a couple big shots, too. Logan [Gonce] hit a big three, Vince [Walker] hit a big three, but we just couldn’t keep them from getting second shots so they cashed in on their credit.”

Longmeyer led the team in points that night, shooting 11 baskets for 21 points. After the game, Longmeyer expressed how he felt after the loss, saying he plans on watching film and preparing for Saturday’s game.

“I see us going a long way. … We all have to step it up and I see our season turning around, really big.”

Longmeyer also showed confidence in his teammates.

“Anybody on this team could give you 20 any night. … I feel like we can win every game. We just have to go out and do what we got to do and let the outcome be that.”

Saturday’s game mirrored Thursday’s. Starting with the 6-foot-7-inch freshman Kaj Days winning the tipoff, the Stars played a tight game. By the half the score was 34-33, with the Greyhounds nursing a small lead.

Despite the Stars’ best efforts, though, they could only manage to keep the game close, losing another heartbreaker by a score of 70-67

Longmeyer scored 19 points during Saturday’s game with no turnovers, but perhaps the amount of playing time freshmen Lijah Donnelly and Kaj Days had on the court is.

Days scored 10 points, the second-most for the Stars that night.

Ultimately, Days was disappointed with the night’s loss but happy to get on the court and play hard.