SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Yellow Jackets picked up an impressive region non-conference victory with a 65–62 win at Illinois Springfield.
Will Gibson supplied a career-high 18 points and five rebounds for Cedarville, 3-2, who has won three straight.
Jaylen Davis added 14 points, featuring two free throws with eight seconds left, to go along with four assists.
Anthony Ruffolo netted 10 points with a game-high seven rebounds.
The Jackets trailed 33–29 at the break and by as many as nine points early in the second half, but they turned the game around with a strong defensive effort. They held UIS to 33 percent shooting after halftime including 1-for-12 from outside the arc.
Cedarville shot 48 percent in the second half and went 8-for-11 at the line while committing just three turnovers for the game.
Quotable: Head Coach Rob Jones
"We are extremely thankful for a win heading into Thanksgiving. You can't minimize how important that is. It's really fun and very good for our guys. To win a game on the road in college basketball is always hard, and to beat a region opponent obviously makes us feel good. I think we're growing as a team. We struggled defensively in the first half, but I thought we really settled down in the second half and defended them really well especially down the stretch.
"There were moments that didn't go our way, but our guys responded really well. It was a collection of players who rallied around each other. It came right down to the wire and there were plays that could've pulled our emotions or momentum in a different way. Every huddle, guys were saying the same thing – just picking each other up, one more stop, one more rebound. I love that about our guys."
Stinger Notes:
- Sam Johnson scored nine points with five rebounds.
- Cedarville held the lead for less than six minutes of the contest.
- Davis is 11-for-12 (.917) from the line this year and 104-for-118 (.881) for his career.
- CU limited the Prairie Stars to one made field goal in the final six minutes.
- The Jackets lead the all-time series, 2-1.
