SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A few weeks ago the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team lost a tough game on the road at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.  On Saturday, the Cardinals (16-7, 8-5) exacted a measure of revenge with a 74-68 victory at the McDermott Center.

The victory moved the Cardinals to within a half game in the Southland Conference standings of the Islanders (14-12, 9-5).  The game was a back-and-forth affair with seven ties and 22 lead changes and was played with intensity throughout the contest.  Each team had numerous outstanding plays on the offensive and defensive ends.

In the first half, the Cardinals put together a brilliant 9-0 run that threatened to blow the game open.  Denzel Livingston (Houston/Waltrip HS) hit a long three-pointer that was immediately followed by a steal and thunderous dunk by Traylin Farris (Pearland/Manvel HS) and a fast break alley-oop dunk by Shawn Johnson (Gretna, LA/Alief Hastings HS) off a perfect pass from Livingston.  The Islanders got right back in the game with a pair of three-pointers by Dale Francis.  UIW went into halftime with a 29-26 lead, but the Islanders had held off the knockout blow.

The second half was a game of cat and mouse with the lead changing hands numerous times. AMCC took their largest lead of the half with 8:08 to play when Rashawn Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws to make it 51-47.  The Cardinals charged back with a 13-2 run that started with back-to-back three-pointers by Johnson.  Livingston scored the remaining seven points of the run.

In the final minutes, the Islanders cut the UIW lead to three-points, but the Cardinals also with a conventional three-point play by Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) on a perfect backdoor cut.  Hittle scored 10 points in the final 3:31 of the game to secure the win for the team.  His final bucket, a put back with 16.1 seconds remaining, made him the 15^th player in school history to score 1,000 points in a UIW jersey.

The Cardinals shot 47.8 percent from the field, made 7-of-21 from three-point range and were 23-of-28 at the foul line.  Livingston led the team with 19 points on just eight shots.  He had four blocks and three steals on defense.  Hittle finished with 16 points and seven rebounds while Farris added 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting.  Johnson had an outstanding game with 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.  Overall, the team had eight blocked shots.

The Islanders shot 40.7 percent from the field, made 4-of-14 from three-point range and were 16-of-17 at the foul line.  John Jordan had 19 points, eight assists and five rebounds to lead the squad.  Thomas had 15 points and five rebounds in just 20 minutes after being limited by foul problems.  Bryce Douvier chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds.

The Cardinals are back in action on Monday at home against Houston Baptist at 7 p.m.

UIW 1,000-Point Club

1. Kenneth Watson (1994-98) – 2,243
2. Pierce Caldwell (2006-10) – 1,873
3. Denzel Livingston (2011-15) – 1,621
4. Tripp Puhl (1987-91) – 1,589
5. Sean Sullivan (1986-89) – 1,514
6. Robert Tovar (2000-04) – 1,350
7. Jesse Robinson (1989-93) – 1,348
8. Tracy Robinson (2007-11) – 1,333
9. Edward Armstrong (1996-00) – 1,274
10. Chris Johnson (2000-04) – 1,268
11. Van Price (1990-93) – 1,246
12. Randy Henderson (1991-93) – 1,096
13. Rusell Corley (1994-98) – 1,047
14. Shaun Umeh (2008-12) – 1,025
15. Kyle Hittle (2012-15) – 1,000

####
pr15126smm