The UIS men’s basketball team finished out its final two home games with a win against Southern Indiana University on Feb. 18 and a Feb. 20 loss to Bellarmine University on Senior Day.

The Prairie Stars now head to the final game of the season looking to clinch their fifth straight Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championship Tournament appearance.

In the Feb. 18 matchup, the Stars were engaged in a see-saw battle against the Screaming Eagles (16-10, 8-8 GLVC) from the tip-off.

Southern Indiana started off hot with a 6-0 run to open the game, and ran the lead up to as many as eight points.

However, the Stars took momentum halfway in, as the senior attack of Davi Austin, Jamall Millison, and JJ Cravatta propelled the Stars to a 39-34 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Screaming Eagles briefly took the lead after several three-pointers, but they quickly relinquished it thanks to a Zack Steinberg three, which gave the Stars a 66-65 lead.

The Stars held on to the lead to finish with a 87-82 victory. Four Prairie Stars finished in double figures for the game, led by Millison, who had 24 points on six-of-13 shooting.

After the game, Cravatta, who had 18 points for his part, spoke about his performance.

“I came in there, made sure I did my role, play defense, make open shots, and guard who I could find.”

In addition, he commented on the significance of playing his final home game at UIS.

“It’s gonna be a big game for us, we’re fighting to get in the playoffs, and being Senior Night, it’s definitely a game we gotta get,” said Cravatta.

Before Saturday’s game, Cravatta, Austin, Millison, Collin Blaydes, and Jesse Tesmer were honored, as it was their last game playing at The Recreation and Athletic Center.

Looking to close the 2015-16 campaign on a three-game home winning streak, the Stars tried to keep up an offensive pace against the conference’s regular season champion Bellarmine Knights, who was the highest-scoring defense in the GLVC coming into Saturday at 66 points per contest.

After falling behind by seven early on, the Stars clawed their way back with a game-tying free-throw from Paxton Harmon, with a subsequent jumper from Cravatta, who led all scorers with 20 points, giving the Stars the lead at 23-21.

However, the Knights asserted themselves defensively, closing the half out on a 12-2 run to enter halftime up 33-23 after holding the Stars scoreless for almost four minutes.

Starting off the second half, the nationally 11th-ranked Knights continued their dominant performance, pushing the lead to nearly 30, while the Stars were able to muster only 29 points in the second half, falling by a final of 78-50.

As nine of the 12 slots of the GLVC tournament have already been clinched (by Bellarmine, Southern Indiana, Lewis, UW-Parkside, Indianapolis, Drury, Quincy, Truman State, and Rockhurst), the Stars are at a must-win situation this Thursday against McKendree, who at 2-7 are also fighting for a GLVC tournament spot.