SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's basketball team held off a second half rally to defeat Illinois Springfield 87-81 on Saturday afternoon at The Recreation and Athletics Center in Springfield, Ill. The Tritons improve to 5-5, 3-1 GLVC while the Prairie Stars drop to 7-4, 3-1 GLVC.

The first 10 minutes of the game went back and forth with four ties and five lead changes. UMSL led 23-21 with less than 10 minutes to play in the first half when it seized control scoring 24 of the next 37 points to build its largest lead of the contest at 47-34 after two free throws from Terrell Kabala with 0:23 left in the stanza.

UIS cut the deficit to 10 at the intermission as Jordan Rice drilled a three-pointer in the closing seconds of the frame.

The Tritons shot 65 percent from the floor in the first half knocking down 17-of-26 shots including 5-of-10 from three and shot 100 percent at the foul line.

The Prairie Stars connected on 46 percent (13-for-28) of their attempts including 6-of-10 from three and shot 100 percent at the foul line.

UMSL opened the second half on a 5-2 run to match its largest lead of the contest at 13 less than two minutes into the half. UIS chipped away at the lead eventually tying the game at 75 on a layup by Jacob Hanna with 3:27 to go.

Emanuel Prospere II took over in the final 1:44 scoring nine of the Tritons final 12 points. He put them ahead for good with back-to-back layups. After the Prairie Stars cut it to a two-point game in the final minute, Prospere II made it a five-point contest as he scored on a layup and was fouled by Jack Weber. Prospere II made the free throw and UIS wouldn't get closer than three as UMSL hit five of its last six free throws to seal the victory.

The Tritons finished the game shooting 60 percent (30-for-50) from the field including 10-of-20 from three and 85 percent (17-for-20) at the foul line. Prospere II led four UMSL players in double figures in scoring with 21 points while Matt Enright added 19, Mayson Quartlebaum chipped in with 16 and Savon Wykle had 12 points.

The Tritons scored a season-high 87 points and shot a season best 60 percent from the field.

The Prairie Stars ended the game shooting 52 percent (29-for-56) from the floor including 12-of-21 from three and was perfect at the foul line (11-for-11). Rice led all scorers with 24 points. Hanna added 21, Jayden Johnson had 12 points while Weber and Max Kunnert finished with 10 points each.

UMSL returns to the court on Monday (Dec. 18) as it travels to Las Vegas to take on Central Missouri in the High Desert Classic at Desert Oasis High School at 8 p.m. (CST) / 6 p.m. (PST).