San Antonio, Texas – Junior forward Devin Wyatt broke a school record with 10 blocked shots and both he and junior guard Shawn Johnson registered double-doubles as UIW men's basketball defeated Texas Lutheran, 78-71.

HOW IT HAPPENED

TLU (3-3) scored the game's first points – a three-pointer by Michael Sullivan – but UIW (4-3) would outscore the Bulldogs, 17-6, to take an eight-point lead, 17-9, with 12:30 left in the opening half.

UIW led by as many as 10 in the first half, but the Bulldogs would close the final 5:28 of the half outscoring the Cardinals, 16-11, to trail by five at the break, 40-35. TLU had a chance to make it a one-possession game at the half, but S. Johnson forced a steal with two seconds left.

UIW took its largest lead of the game early in the second half, as S. Johnson's trey put the hosts up 47-35 with 18:29 left in regulation. TLU made a furious comeback, however, and used a 15-5 run to trail UIW by just two, 52-50, with 13:04 left. That was all the closer the Bulldogs came, as UIW increased its lead by as many as 10.

Back-to-back three-pointers by Zach Behr followed by a layup by Sullivan put the Bulldogs within striking distance, 74-71, with 42 seconds left, but UIW made all four free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

LEADERS

Wyatt's 10 blocks broke a school record, as the previous record was seven, set by three different players; the last coming in 2009 by Jawan Bailey. Wyatt finished three blocks shy of matching the Southland Conference record, and three rebounds short of a triple-double, as he finished with 12 points and seven rebounds in 28 minutes.

S. Johnson posted his third double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-tying 15 rebounds. Tyler Singleton finished two points shy of tying his career high as he scored 17 points, which matched the team high with Jalin Hart, who also added five rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Behr scored a game-high 18 points to lead TLU, while Michael Sullivan added 12 and Mark Sullivan chipped in with 10. Matthew Gillette was the top rebounder with 10.

QUOTES

OVERALL THOUGHTS BY ASSISTANT COACH JOHN SMITH
"Fun fact that some people may not know is Coach Wacker at Texas Lutheran was Coach Burmeister's assistant in '88 at UTSA, so the guys know each other very well. I expected Texas Lutheran to come out. Our guys put it together. We're walking wounded right now, but thankfully we were able to put together a victory.

ON DEVIN WYATT'S PERFORMANCE
"That's kind of what we expected when we recruited Devin. That's what Devin is; he's a rebounder, shot blocker, defensive specialist."

DEVIN WYATT ON HIS RECORD-SETTING PERFORMANCE
"To be honest, I didn't know how many blocks I had. I was just doing what I needed to do to help the team. But it feels great."

ON TEAM CHEMISTRY
"We just have to come together. We're starting to get used to playing each other and starting to come together and gel. I feel like we're looking pretty good."

UP NEXT

UIW closes its three-game home stand Saturday at 7 p.m. against Texas A&M International. The game will be shown live on Spectrum Sports Texas.

STAY TUNED

The Cardinals begin a season-long five-game road swing at UNLV on Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 9 p.m. central. The game will be shown live on the Mountain West Network.

For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics visit uiwcardinals.com. Be sure to follow UIW Athletics on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook at UIW Athletics.