Hawks unable to erase first-half deficit, stumble in final regular-season game

QUINCY — It was a case of déjà vu.

The University of Illinois-Springfield men’s basketball team sank its first 11 shots, needed just four minutes to build a 14-point lead and withstood a furious second-half rally by Quincy University on Saturday afternoon to secure a 97-89 victory in the Great Lakes Valley Conference regular-season finale at Pepsi Arena.

The Hawks, down by as many as 23 points late in the first half, closed within five with 1:11 remaining on a steal and layup by Nate Shockey, but a missed shot and a charging foul on their ensuing two possessions sealed their ninth loss in 10 games.

It was reminiscent of the first meeting between the teams on Jan. 20, when the Prairie Stars scored the opening 10 points and led 18-2 after four minutes. QU also rallied in that one, twice taking a one-point lead in the first half, before allowing 43 points in the second half to lose 78-56.

“You have to give them credit,” said Shockey, who scored a team-high 22 points. “They were knocking down shots, making layups, making plays, making the extra pass. When you dig a 23-point hole, it’s hard to get it all back. What we did was too little, too late. We ran out of time.”

UIS shredded the QU defense from the perimeter and in the paint in the first half. The blistering start enabled the Prairie Stars to shoot 68 percent from the field in the opening half, including going 8 of 12 from 3-point range, to take 54-33 lead.

At one point in the early going, UIS had nearly as many dunks (3) as QU had field goals (5). And it wasn’t just one or two players with a hot hand. Four Prairie Stars reached double figures in scoring by intermission.

Meanwhile, the Hawks got off nine more field goal attempts (40) but made seven fewer (14) than UIS in the first 20 minutes. They were just 3 for 17 from behind the arc.

“When they play like this, they’re the most talented team in the league,” QU coach Steve Hawkins said of UIS. “They’ve got perimeter shooters and they’ve got the ability to drive. And when they get the ball inside to (Jack) Weber, if you double-team him, he passes out to shooters, and if you don’t, he can score.”

Down 60-40 three minutes into the second half, Zion Richardson, held to just seven points in the first half, sparked a Hawks’ run over the next six minutes. His conventional three-point play and 3-pointer from the right wing pulled QU within 68-61 with 10:54 left.

“We had to make them turn the ball over and dictate what we wanted them to do, and we did that for the most part in the second half,” said Richardson, who scored 10 of his 20 points during that stretch. “We’re a strong-willed team. We know how to battle back.”

A pair of 3-pointers by guard Max Kunnert and a putback and a layup off an inbound pass by 6-foot-7 forward Khalil Ross enabled UIS to push the lead to 78-66, and eventually to 88-74 on a spinning move in the lane by Weber with less than three minutes remaining.

The Hawks made one last charge, with Richardson and Shockey combining for their next 10 points.

Shockey hit three free throws after being fouled on a shot from the right wing with 1:31 to go, and then stole the ball in front of the Prairie Stars’ bench and drove for a layup to make it 89-84 with 1:11 left.

QU managed just one field goal the rest of the way, however, a 3-pointer by Isaiah Foster in the waning seconds. UIS answered with a transition layup by Weber before sinking six free throws in the final 50 seconds.

“I’m just so proud of all my teammates, my coaches, for the way we battled,” said Shockey, playing his final game for QU. “Obviously, we didn’t get the win, but it was fun.”

Foster finished with 18 points for the Hawks, who shot 56 percent from the field in the second half. They got off 23 more shots than the winners, thanks in part to 12 offensive rebounds, and had 10 steals overall. But they were only 7 of 26 from 3-point range.

Ross led all scorers with 27 points, while Weber and Jacob Hanna had 19 apiece and Kunnert 18 for the Prairie Stars. Despite 14 turnovers and a couple of dry spells, UIS shot 64 percent from the field overall.

UIS, which had lost five of its previous six, improved to 18-12 overall and 11-9 in the GLVC. Seeded sixth, it will play third-seeded Lewis on Friday in the opening round of the league’s postseason tournament in St. Charles, Mo.

QU, which was without four players because of illness and another for disciplinary reasons, finished 11-17 overall and 6-14 in the GLVC.

“I think this game at times epitomized our season,” Hawkins said. “We could get up, we could get down, but there was always fight. Of the 28 games we played, there were fewer than five when we could question the physical effort.

“We took a small step backwards record-wise this season, but we took a major step forward building our culture. From that standpoint, I think we’ve got the program where we needed to get it in the first two years so we can put together something that is sustainable.”