PHOENIX, ARIZONA – Denzel Livingston (Houston/Waltrip HS) scored 24 second half points as he led the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team to an 82-80 victory at Grand Canyon University on Wednesday night at the GCU Arena in front of an announced crowd of 4,692.

The Cardinals (7-1) had to withstand a first half barrage from the Antelopes (5-7) who shot 70.4 percent from the field and made 7-of-9 three-pointers in the period.  At one point, GCU connected on eight consecutive shots to open up a 50-39 lead at halftime.

In the second half, the Cardinals trailed by as many as 13 points before pulling off their second straight victory after trailing by double digits.  A Livingston three-pointer with 9:24 remaining pulled the Cardinals to within one point at 64-63.  The Lopes would not let UIW take the lead and they pushed their advantage to seven points after a DeWayne Russell layup with 4:49 left in the game.

The response for the Cardinals was immediate, Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS) missed a three-pointer, but Livingston pulled down the long rebound and drained his own three and he was fouled on the play.  He converted the free throw to make it a 3-point game.  Two minutes later, Shawn Johnson (Gretna, LA/Alief Hastings HS) tied the game on a conventional three-point play with 2:17 left.

The Cardinals finally took their first lead of the second half on a pair of free throws by Livingston with 1:28 left.  Joshua Braun tied the game for the Lopes with 42 ticks remaining when he went 1-for-2 at the foul line.  Livingston came back with what proved to be the game-winning jumper with 22 seconds left.  The Lopes got off three shot attempts in the final moments, but could not get one to fall.

UIW shot 52.5 percent from the field, made 8-of-20 from three-point range and were an uncharacteristic 10-of-21 at the foul line.  Livingston was 13-of-20 from the field and 3-of-4 from three-point range, but only 5-of-12 at the line en route to a season-high 34 points.  He also pulled down six rebounds.  Walker knocked down four three-pointers and finished with 22 points and fellow freshman Traylin Farris (Pearland/Manvel HS) added 10 points and seven rebounds.  The Cardinals committed a season low four turnovers in the game.

After making everything they looked at in the first half, the Lopes shot 32.1 percent in the second half and finished the game shooting 50.9 percent from the field.  They were 8-of-19 from three-point range and 16-of-23 at the foul line.  Braun led the team with 22 points and six rebounds while Russell added 20 points.  Jerome Garrison added 16 points and six rebounds.  GCU had three more rebounds than the Cardinals.

The Cardinals improved to 3-1 on the season away from home and are now 2-1 on their current road trip.  They head to UM-Kansas City on Saturday for a 6:05 p.m. start.
 
NOTES: Denzel Livingston moved into the top 10 in school history in career points.

1. Kenneth Watson, 1991-95, 2243
2. Pierce Caldwell, 2006-10, 1873
3. Tripp Puhl, 1987-91, 1589
4. Sean Sullivan, 1986-89, 1514
5. Robert Tovar, 2000-04, 1350
6. Jesse Robinson, 1989-93, 1348
7. Tracy Robinson, 2007-11, 1333
8. Edward Armstrong, 1996-00, 1274
9. Chris Johnson, 2000-04, 1268
10. Denzel Livingston, 2011-, 1262
11. Van Price, 1990-93, 1246
12. Randy Henderson, 1991-93, 1096
13. Russell Corley, 1994-98, 1047
14. Shaun Umeh, 2008-12, 1025

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