SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team had two shots in the last two minutes at Sacramento State that would have given them the lead, but each rimmed in-and-out and the Hornets held on for a 73-70 win at the Hornet's Nest on Monday night.

The Hornets (6-2) jumped out to a 12-0 lead to open the game and the Cardinals (3-3) did not score until Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS) knocked down a three-pointer 5:40 into the game.  UIW pulled to within 20-14 with 11:02 remaining in the first half before Sacramento State went on a 13-2 run to take a 17-point lead with 5:49 left in the half.

The Cardinals got back into the game thanks to a trio of three-pointers by Shawn Johnson (New Orleans, LA/Alief Hastings HS) in the final four minutes of the half.  UIW was able to go into halftime trailing by only seven points, 42-35.

In the second half, the Hornets got a spark on the inside from Justin Strings who scored on three layups in the first five minutes of the half.  Sacramento State continued to maintain a 9-point lead after a jumper in the lane by Cody Demps midway through the half.  The Cardinals went on an 11-2 run over the next four minutes and they tied the score after Derail Green (Houston/Klein Forest HS) with 6:20 remaining.

The teams traded three-pointers, but then the Hornets built back a 5-point lead after a three-pointer by Marcus Graves with 4:05 to play.  The Cardinals got key three-pointers by Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) and Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cy Falls HS) sandwiched around a trifecta by Strings to make it 69-67 Hornets with 3:10 remaining.  Over the next two minutes, Badillo and Walker each had a chance to put UIW in the lead, but their three-point attempts went in-and-out.

Strings came through again for the Hornets with a tough 17-footer with 53 seconds remaining in the game.  After a missed three-pointer, Graves made a pair of free throws to push the lead to six points and clinched the game.

The Cardinals shot 40.4 percent from the field, made 9-of-25 from three-point range and were 15-of-21 from the foul line.  Walker led the team with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field.  Johnson just missed his second straight double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds.  Hittle scored 11 points while Badillo had another strong performance with seven points, six rebounds and nine assists.  Jerred Kite (San Antonio/Antonian HS) added six points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals off the bench.  The team had 34 rebounds and committed 11 turnovers.

The Hornets shot 49.1 percent from the field, made 8-of-22 from three-point range and were 9-of-14 from the foul line.  Strings led all players with 23 points while Graves added 20 points, five rebounds and three steals.  Demps finished with 14 points and six assists.  Nick Hornsby finished with a team-high eight rebounds.  They had 33 rebounds and 11 turnovers as a team.

The Cardinals are back in action on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. at California.
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