Box Score SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball came out blazing against visiting Lone Star Conference rival Midwestern State, but a cold-shooting second half ended in a 74-69 loss on Thursday night at the McDermott Center. (Box Score)

The Cardinals (3-3, 0-1) opened the game clicking on all cylinders as they hit their first six shots and led by as many as 16 points in the first half.  Senior guard Lyn'Dale Brown (San Antonio/Judson HS) was a one-man wrecking crew scoring 17 points on a perfect 6-for-6 shooting from the field while nabbing three steals in the half.  He had a number of highlight film plays on both ends of the court and he made it a 43-27 game with 1:20 left in the half. 

The Mustangs (4-2, 1-0) finally got something going over the final 1:20 of the half and cut the led to 10 points after Cam Adderley hit a jumper with two ticks left to make it 43-33 heading into the break.

The Cardinals shot 62.5 percent from the field in the first half while outscoring the Mustangs 18-8 in the paint and 18-4 on points off turnovers. 

In the second half, the Mustangs stepped up their defense and rebounded with reckless abandon.  It took a while for the visitors to finally hit their stride on offense, but when they did it was trouble for the Cardinals.

The score was 51-41 in favor of the Cardinals after a layup by Hasani Sumbry (Houston/Westbury Christian HS) with 13:34 remaining in the game.  MSU closed with a 10-3 run to make it a three-point game and then they started raining three-pointers.  They hit three-pointer on three straight possessions and on 4-of-6 to take a 65-60 lead with 6:32 remaining in the game.  After Keith Spellman drained another three-pointer with 4:10 to play it gave MSU a 70-62 lead and it looked like the game might be over.

The Cardinals did not quit and eventually pulled to within three points at 72-69 with 1:05 remaining.  They forced the Mustangs into a shot clock violation on the next possession and had a chance to go for the tie.  The Cards had three chances at potential game-tying three-pointers, but each shot was off the mark.  Corbin Thomas finally grabbed a rebound for the Mustangs and then salted the game away with two free throws on the other end with five seconds to play.

The Cardinals shot an even 50 percent from the field, made 4-of-17 from three-point range and were 17-of-28 at the foul line.  Brown led the team with a career high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field.  He grabbed seven rebounds and had four steals while making his first eight shot attempts.  Dionelle Rucker (San Antonio/New Life Christian Academy) had 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.  Anthony Horton (League City/Clear Springs HS) chipped in with 13 points off the bench and Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) added 12 points.  Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cypress Falls HS) dished out six assists.  The Cards had 26 rebounds, 13 steals and 17 turnovers.

The Mustangs shot 48.2 percent from the field, made 10-of-23 from three-point range and were 10-of-16 at the foul line.  Keith Spellman had a team-high 19 points while Thomas had 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Monzaigo Williams added 13 points and seven assists, but turned the ball over eight times.  They had 35 rebounds, 10 steals and committed 21 turnovers.

The Cardinals are back in action on Saturday at 4 p.m. against Cameron at home.
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