SPRINGFIELD, Ill. –Illinois Springfield's Jesus Castillo drained a 3-pointer with just seven-tenths of a second remaining to lift the host Prairie Stars to a 77-75 victory over the No. 8 Bellarmine Knights in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest on Thursday night. 
 
Bellarmine's CJ Fleming had given the Knights a 75-74 lead with a 3-pointer with just 10.6 seconds remaining, but the Knights couldn't make the lead stand up.
 
The Prairie Stars, who average more than 11 triples per game, converted 10 of 19 second half 3-pointers to finish the game 15 of 37 from beyond the arc.  Bellarmine had one of its best 3-point shooting games of the season, making a season-high 14 treys on 31 attempts, but a pair of late turnovers doomed the Knights as UIS turned 10 Bellarmine miscues into 20 points on the night.
 
Bellarmine senior Alex Cook tossed in a career-high 27 points to lead all scorers, but the Knights had a tough time getting the balanced scoring it is accustomed to against the Prairie Stars.  Ben Weyer tallied 22 points for the Knights, but he and Cook were the only Bellarmine players in double figures.
 
Daniel Soetan rang up 24 points for the Prairie Stars to lead four UIS players in double figures.  Castillo finished with 18 points with all six of his field goals coming from 3-point range.
 
"We had no answer defensively," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "They shot 58.1 percent in the second half. It was not about intricate offense. They would just drive, pitch, and shoot it. You have to give them credit, but at some point, you have to draw a line in the sand and say you're going to guard the basketball. If you can't guard the basketball, you can't win the game."
 
"Our defensive game against Springfield in Louisville was one of the best games I've ever coached at Bellarmine from a defensive standpoint," said Davenport.  And tonight, for the game, we give up 51 percent shooting—58 in the second half.  Same guys…they didn't run anything different."
 
Bellarmine enjoyed a lead for the majority of the game. After the Prairie Stars hit a 3-pointer on the opening possession, Bellarmine fought back to take the lead at 8-7 and led until  Castillo canned a 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining in the game.  A Bellarmine turnover led to a dunk by Soetan to give UIS a 74-69 advantage with just 1:21 remaining.
 
Bellarmine managed to battle back from the late 5-point deficit, however.  Cook was fouled on a 3-pointer and converted all three free throws, and following a UIS miss, Fleming's trey with 10.6 seconds returned the lead to the Knights until Castillo's last-second heroics.
 
The Knights fall to 15-3 on the season and slip to 8-3 in GLVC play.  The Prairie Stars improve to 11-8 and 4-7 in the GLVC as they record their first-ever victory over Bellarmine.
 
The Knights return action on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Romeoville, Illinois to take on Lewis in a 4:15 p.m. (EST) game.
 
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