Watch Shawn Johnson's game-winner
Listen to Greg Sherman's call on Johnson's shot
San Antonio, Texas – Junior guard
Shawn Johnson's three-pointer in the corner with four seconds gave UIW men's basketball the lead for good, 70-68, as the Cardinals upset Stephen F. Austin Saturday evening from the Convo Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
In front of the biggest crowd at the Convo Center and in a game which featured 13 ties and 15 lead changes, SFA set the tone early by scoring the game's first seven points. UIW battled back on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 9-all with 12:34 remaining in the first half.
The Lumberjacks led by as many as eight with six minutes left in the opening frame before UIW scored eight unanswered to tie the game at 24-all.
Jorden Kite's fifth triple of the half gave UIW a 29-28 lead, but SFA doubled up the Cardinals, 4-2, in the final 3:46 to take a 32-31 lead into the break.
UIW came out firing to start the second half, outscoring SFA, 5-0, in the first minute to force the Lumberjacks to call a timeout.
Simi Socks' first of two made free throws at the 6:16-mark of the second half gave the game its 10th tie of the night. After making his second free throw, he forced a steal and the Cardinals eventually led SFA by three following two more free throws by the sophomore from Coppell, Texas.
Two made free throws by Leon Gilmore III forced the game's 12th tie and two free throws by Ivan Canete put the visitors up by two with just under two minutes to play. Johnson put the Cardinals up by one with a triple in the corner with 46 seconds to play. Following an SFA timeout, Dallas Cameron was fouled and made both free throws, putting SFA up by one, 68-67, with 28 seconds to play. A terrific pass from
Sam Burmeister set Johnson up for the game-winning triple with four seconds left. TJ Holyfield's heave at the buzzer rimmed out as UIW prevailed.
LEADERS
Despite a slow start to the game, six of Johnson's nine total points came when UIW (8-10 overall, 3-4 SLC) needed it most. Kite scored a career-high 18 points on 6-of8 from beyond the arc.
Devin Wyatt scored 12 and Socks chipped in with 11. As a team, UIW shot 54 percent from the floor.
SFA (9-10 overall, 4-3 SLC) was led by Canete with 16 points, followed by Gilmore with 15. The Lumberjacks shot 40 percent from the floor.
QUOTES
Assistant Coach John Smith on Shawn Johnson
"That was great for
Shawn Johnson. Perseverance is the vocabulary for this game. Shawn didn't have a hot first half, we gave him some love in the locker room, got his confidence back up, and he delivered down the stretch."
On the crowd
"That was a big-time win. The crowd, they gave us energy. Coach Kennan, the whole football team coming out, thank you. That was huge for this program, huge for this university. We're taking positive strides."
On Jorden Kite
"Our last interview, I said we had to give
Jorden Kite more minutes. He makes our penetrators better because you have to keep an eye on him.
Sam Burmeister had some good minutes, some positive energy.
Devin Wyatt had some good blocks and dunks. Everyone had their hands on this victory."
Shawn Johnson on his two three-pointers late
"At first I didn't want to shoot because I had lost some confidence, but my team on the bench, they were like 'shoot it' and they believed in me and I hit them."
UP NEXT
UIW concludes its three-game home stand against Abilene Christian on Thursday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m. The game will feature the annual "Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers" game, along with the 3-Point Challenge, where pledges on how many triples the Cardinals make go to the American Cancer Society.
STAY TUNED
The Cardinals play at Central Arkansas on Saturday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m.
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.
