The University of Illinois Springfield men's basketball team will continue their season on the road in the DoubleTree Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Drury University. The Prairie Stars play Missouri Southern State on Tuesday and Fontbonne on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled for a 3:15 p.m. tipoff.
UIS (2-3)
The Prairie Stars enter the Classic after only playing one game last week against Judson. UIS dominated from start to finish as six different Stars finished with double-digit points. Jack Weber scored his 1000th career point at UIS in the first half of the 99-64 win. Jordan Rice once again led the team in scoring, as he totaled 22 points, 6 assists, and 4 steals. Max Kunnert had 16 points of his own, shooting 4-6 from three-point range. Jacob Hanna and Jack Weber both recorded 10 points each. The Prairie Stars scored 39 bench points, as both Jayden Johnson and Khalil Ross registered 11 points each. The Prairie Stars shot 52% from the field and 40% from three during the game.
Missouri Southern State (2-1)
The Lions also only had one game last week, coming against Central Christian College on Monday night. MSSU dominated the game and came away with a 92-56 victory. The Lions shot 54.1% from the field and 48.0% from beyond the arc. Leading the team in scoring was Vinson Sigmon Jr., finishing with 16 points. He also had 6 rebounds and a pair of steals. Winston Dessesow hit a career milestone, scoring his 1,000th point on his first basket of the game. In total, he had 15 points on 6-9 shooting from the field. Also in double digits was Justin Duff (11 points), Lawson Jenkins (11 points), and Sam Thompson (10 points). Martin Macenis led the Lions with 9 rebounds and 4 assists, and also went 4-5 from the field in just 14 minutes. Avery Taggart also had 4 assists.
MSSU currently has three players averaging 11 points or more in their first three games of the season. Both Vinson Sigmon Jr. and Darius Dawson are averaging 11.3 ppg while Justin Duff is just behind with 11.0 ppg.
Fontbonne (3-1)
The Division III Griffins have started the season well, registering two wins last week. On Friday the Griffins dominated Moody Bible 98-62. Fontbonne registered their second win in as many days as they beat East-West 95-82.
On Friday against Moody Bible, Fontbonne shot 52% from the field (35-68), and went 42% from the three-point line (8-19). Adam Painter led the team with 18 points (7-10 FG, 4-6). Charles Nelson added 13 points with four field goals and four free throws. Kaden Augustine and Grant Hastings each scored nine points. Jaylen Swinney totaled eight points. Adam Painter added seven rebounds and seven assists.
Saturday against East-West was a closer game as the Griffins were playing on back-to-back days. Fontbonne shot 54% from the field (37-68), and shot 35% from the three-point line (7-20). Ethan Chartrand led the Griffins with 18 points (7-12 FG), (3-3 FT). He also added four rebounds and three steals. Brent Wagner and Elijah Rice each scored 16 points. Cheikh Thiam recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Adam Painter put up nine points going 2-3 from the field and 5-7 from the free-throw line. Jordan Lewis added eight points to the win.
How to Watch
Each game will be streamed on GLVCSN behind a paywall. Follow live stats here. Tickets available for purchase can be found here.
Up Next
The Prairie Stars hit the road for their first conference games of the year at Maryville (11/30) and Missouri S&T (12/2).