ST. LOUIS – The Maryville men's basketball team came all the way back from a 17-point deficit but Illinois Springfield rallied late to edge the Saints 78-71.
Francisco Espinosa led the way with season highs of 20 points and seven rebounds.
Luke Williams pitched in 14 points. The Saints tied their season-high and drilled 13 3-pointers to spark the offensive attack.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Saints were down by 13 at halftime and UIS inched out to a 44-27 lead early in the second half.
Luke Williams scored on a layup that sparked a 13-0 run as the Saints surged back into the contest. Espinosa powered up for a bucket in traffic, and
Anthony Holden had a steal for a layup. After another steal,
Keyyaun Batchman scored to cut the gap to single digits. Espinosa splashed in a 3-pointer from the left wing and scored on a layup as the Saints pulled to 44-40 with 15 minutes to play.
UIS steadied itself and went back ahead by as many as nine points. Williams pulled up from beyond the arc to make it 63-58. UIS was still up 67-62 with 3:19 remaining before the Saints charged ahead. Espinosa drained another triple, and a trey by
Dewayne Vass in the corner put Maryville on top 68-67 with 2:20 left to go.
Henry Meyer had a block on the defensive end and turned around for a 3-pointer to cap a 9-0 run and a 71-67 advantage at the 1:52 mark and forced a Prairie Stars timeout. UIS hit a crucial 3-pointer and took the lead with 49 seconds to play. The Saints were looking to halt the UIS run but the visitors added on two free throws for a 74-71 lead with 32 ticks to go. Maryville committed a turnover that led to a UIS bucket, and the Prairie Stars hit a pair of free throws to ice the game.
STATISTICAL LEADERS
Points:
Francisco Espinosa -20
Rebounds:
Francisco Espinosa - 7
Assists:
Trey Redd - 6
3-Pointers:
Francisco Espinosa and
Luke Williams - 4
Steals:
Dewayne Vass - 2
Blocked Shots:
Francisco Espinosa - 2
RECORDS:
Maryville: 1-7, 0-3 GLVC
Illinois Springfield: 4-4, 1-2 GLVC
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Saints stay at home to face Indianapolis Saturday, Dec. 7, in a 3 pm contest in Moloney Arena.
