INCARNATE WORD 76, CAMERON 65
The surge didn't come until the second half Saturday afternoon but when it did Incarnate Word had stretched its winning string to 10 with the 76-65 victory over visiting Cameron of Oklahoma.
The 10-0 record to open the season ties the fourth best in UIW history and has earned the Cardinals a number 21 ranking in the latest NABC national poll.
With both teams shooting low percentages from the field the first half slogged to a 29-29 tie at the break when Incarnate Word got a last second layup from junior guard Shaun Umeh to knot the score. That would be the best the Aggies (8-4) could do for the remainder of the contest.
Breaking out of the halftime huddle, the Cardinals ran off a string of 12-1 over the first five minutes of half two and from there Cameron was on the downside looking up the hill. From that 41-30 margin at 15:00 UIW flirted with double figure leads and when sophomore guard Kelcey Solomon made a jumper at 8:26 it was 54-44 and would never drop below 10 points again.
Incarnate Word got balanced scoring with four players in double points topped by Solomon's 21. UIW's leading scorer, senior forward Tracy Robinson, had 18 to go with 12 by junior forward Chris Johnson and 10 by Umeh.
The Cardinals defense was severe as UIW limited Cameron to 33.3 per cent shooting. The Aggies committed 17 turnovers including nine Incarnate Word steals. Those mistakes led to 27 points on the Incarnate Word side of the ledger.
Next up for Incarnate Word is another Lone Star Conference crossover game. Southwestern Oklahoma comes to the McDermott Center on Monday for a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
