SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team evened up their Southland Conference record on Saturday with a 70-56 win over visiting Northwestern State University at the McDermott Center.

The Cardinals (6-7, 1-1) scored the first eight points of the game and never trailed.  UIW played one of their best defensive games of the season as they held the Demons (3-10, 0-3) to 21 points below their season average and just 38 percent shooting from the field.

UIW pushed the lead to 10 points with 11:31 left in the first half on a free throw by Tyler Singleton (Dallas/Triple A Academy).  NSU cut the lead to five points on two occasions in the first half, but the Cardinals pushed the lead to 14 points late in the first half before settling for a 45-34 halftime lead.

The Demons opened the second half on a 9-0 run that began at the end of the first half.  The Cardinals responded with a 6-0 run and led 54-42 after a three-pointer by Shawn Johnson (New Orleans/Alief Hastings HS) with 14:53 to play.  NSU made two more runs in the half and each time that were able to get as close as six points.  The first time, Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cy Falls HS) hit a layup and a three-pointer to give the Cardinals a double digit lead.

Later, Zeek Woodley scored on a conventional three-point play with 4:27 left.  Derail Green (Houston/Klein Forest HS) knocked down a mid-range jumper on the next possession off a nice feed from Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS).  The UIW defense stopped NSU on the next play and then Johnson drained a three-pointer to make it 67-56 with 3:16 remaining to clinch the game.

The Cardinals shot 50 percent from the field, made 10-of-19 from three-point range and were 12-of-15 from the foul line.  Johnson led the team with 19 points, six rebounds and two blocks while making all four of her three-point attempts.  Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) just missed a double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.  Walker had 10 points and four assists off the bench while Green tallied 10 points.  Badillo had another strong performance with eight points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.  The Cardinals had three more rebounds than the Demons.

The Demons shot 38.9 percent from the field, made 3-of-16 from three-point range and were 11-of-13 at the foul line.  Woodley led the team with 15 points and eight rebounds while Ishmael Lane had 12 points.

The Cardinals are back in action on Monday at 7 p.m. at New Orleans.
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