They came to town having won 17 in a row earning a number three ranking in the nation. Tarleton State's Texans left town with the ranking for a few more days anyway but not the streak as Incarnate Word whipped TSU 62-51 in men's basketball Saturday afternoon.
The win got UIW to 13- 8 on the year and more importantly 9-5 in Lone Star Conference play. And also more importantly because the victory put Incarnate Word into the LSC post-season championship tournament.
The Cardinals began the day tied for third. They now have a four-game lead on three other teams with four to play and needing to eliminate one of the four to ensure a spot. UIW swept one of those three meaning Texas A&M-Kingsville cannot catch the Cardinals. Eight of the 10 teams get into the tournament.
Tarleton State continues to lead the league with its now 12-1 mark (20-2 overall) but the long-standing winning string is history.
The Texans led most of the first half before UIW seemed to get some traction by scoring the final six points of the stanza for a 32-26 halftime lead. That spurt began at the 4:25 mark and Incarnate Word never trailed again.
Twice in the second half TSU cut the margin to three points, the final time at 9:23 with the score at 44-41. Over the next three minutes UIW outscored the Texans 10-2 putting the lead at 11, 54-43, and that is where it hovered the rest of the way.
Lyndale Brown led the UIW defense with four steals.
That deciding run found senior guard
Shaun Umeh with a layup followed by a pair of free throws from junior guard Lyndale Brown. Senior forward
Chris Johnson beat the defense baseline for a layup before Brown swiped the ball from the Texans and finished with a thunderous dunk. Johnson got the final two of the 10 with another layup.
In winning their seventh game in the last eight attempts, the Cardinals returned to what they had been doing best—holding the opponent to less than 60 points. Included in the team-wide defensive effort were 16 TSU turnovers including 11 Incarnate Word steals. Brown had four of those thefts while Umeh, the all-time career leader at UIW, took the ball away three times.
When the dust had settled a pair of Cardinals were in double figure points. Johnson shot 9-12 from the field and tallied a game-high 20. Umeh got eight in the second half and ended with 12.
Next up for the Cardinals is a Wednesday, February 8, trip to Midwestern State to engage the number two LSC team in an 8 p.m. game. UIW has four conference games remaining as the teams scramble for seedings
