SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Lewis University's men's basketball team couldn't overcome a slow start and an impressive shooting performance from Illinois Springfield in a 69-54 loss on Tuesday evening in Springfield, Ill. The Flyers saw their three-game winning come to and end as they fall to 6-3 overall and in the GLVC while the Prairie Stars improve to 4-3 overall and in the conference.

The game did not start well for Lewis as it missed its first seven shots from the field and fell behind 13-0.

The Flyers got as close as 27-17 after a jumper from Dre Bell (Detroit, Mich./River Rouge) but UIS scored 10 of the final 16 points of the half to take a 37-23 lead into the half.

The Stars shot 64 percent from the field in the stanza and were 5-of-8 from beyond the arc.

After its slow start Lewis hit 11 of its last 19 shots of the half but struggled from the three-point line making just 1-of-7 attempts.

UIS led by as many as 24 points with 8:21 left in the contest but Lewis outscored them 18-9 over the final eight minutes of the game to cut the final deficit to 15 points.

Bruno Williams (Milwaukee, Wis./Wisconsin Lutheran) and Trevian Bell (Joliet, Ill./Joliet West) led the Flyers with 10 points apiece while Vlado Zrnic (Greendale, Wis./Greendale) and D. Bell had seven and six points respectively.

Lewis finished the game shooting 48 percent (24-for-50) from the field, was 2-of-12 from three and shot only 40 percent from the foul line.

The Flyers had no answer for Chase Robinson, Matt Wendling and Keymonta Johnson as the trio combined to score 57 of UIS's 69 points and were a combined 20-of-29 from the field and 11-of-15 from three.

As a team the Prairie Stars shot 60.5 percent (26-for-43) from the floor, 11-of-18 from three and 75 percent at the foul line. They outrebounded Lewis 30-15 in the contest.

The Flyers return home on Thursday hosting Missouri-St. Louis at 5:30 p.m. at Neil Carey Arena.