CONWAY, ARKANSAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team won their third straight and sixth of their last seven Southland Conference games on Friday night at Central Arkansas, 77-67 the Farris Center.

The home Bears (1-21, 1-10) came out firing on all cylinders and led 12-3 after a three-pointer by Mike Martin.  They still held a 23-15 lead midway through the half, when the Cardinals (15-6, 7-4) finally got going.

UIW scored the next 10 points of the game and took their first lead on a three-pointer by Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) with 6:54 remaining in the first half.  The Bears answered with a three of their own, but Hittle quickly scored again to give the team a lead they would not relinquish.  They pushed it to 36-30 with 2:58 left in the half on a jumper by Denzel Livingston (Houston/Waltrip HS) and that proved to be the halftime score as the teams combined to miss eight consecutive shots to close the period.

In the second half, the Bears closed to within two points in the first few minutes, but an 11-2 run capped by five straight points from Hittle gave UIW a 49-38 advantage with 13:15 to play.  The lead would remain at least six points for the rest of the game for the Cardinals as they were able to get the stops and buckets they needed.

Playing without two of their starters, the Cardinals relied heavily upon the trio of Livingston, Hittle and freshman Traylin Farris (Pearland/Manvel HS).  Livingston had another strong game with 31 points, five rebounds, six assists and three blocks while playing all 40 minutes.  He became the first player in school history to score 1,000 points since the program joined NCAA Division I during the game.  Hittle finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and four assists for his second double-double of the season.  Farris finished the night with 16 points and six rebounds on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.  The team shot 50.0 percent from the field, made 5-of-16 from three-point range and was 18-of-23 at the foul line.  They only committed five turnovers in the game.

The Bears shot 40.0 percent from the field, made 8-of-21 from three-point range and went 15-of-18 from the foul line.  Jordan Howard led the team with 17 points while Martin finished with 15 points and five assists.  Jake Zuilhof had eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

The Cardinals are back in action on Monday night at home against Stephen F. Austin with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at the McDermott Center.
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