The Prairie Stars add another victory to their season record as they come out on top over the Miners of Missouri S&T 77-64.

Just after tip off the Stars scored the first points of the game; however, the Miners would stay within reach of the Stars’ lead. For most of the first half the Stars held on to a two point lead. That is until senior Chase Brinkley made a jump shot to give the Stars their largest lead of the half with eight points. With time almost up in the first half junior Regan Bruenger made a 3-pointer to give UIS an 11 point lead going into half time.

This is an all too familiar sight for the Prairie Stars. Frequently, they have been up at half time going into the second half, only to come out without energy and lose the lead. They needed to come out with energy and motivation to hold on to their lead and win the game.

The second half started with senior Kyle Gupton making a couple of shots to increase the lead to 15 points. The Miners however slowly reduced the distance between the two scores. The closest they were able to get to the lead was when they had a nine point deficit to the Stars. The Stars countered the Miners as they went on a 6-0 run to get the lead back up to 15.

The Stars would not let the Miners get any closer to winning the game as the Stars made key free throws. These free throws put the game out of reach for the Miners as they were not able stop the Stars.

Gupton lead the Stars with 16 points, senior West Dawson finished the night with 15 points shooting 7-11, and sophomore Kentrell King added 12 points of his own along with five rebounds and four assists.

The Prairie Stars return to TRAC this Saturday, Feb. 16 as they take on Drury University for a Great Lakes Valley Conference match.