BEAUMONT, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word picked up a third straight Southland Conference win on Saturday when they outlasted Lamar University, 74-71 at the Montagne Center.

UIW held Lamar scoreless for a stretch of 8:41 in the second half from the 9:51 mark until 1:10 remained in the game.  At one point during that stretch neither team scored for 4:34.  Lamar missed 11 field goals and three free throws over their scoreless stretch.  Over the final 1:10, Incarnate Word made eight straight free throws to salt the game away.

Lamar opened the game by scoring the first 11 points of the contest and they made four three-pointers in the first 3:31.  They led 19-7 after a Nick Garth trifecta with 13:28 to play in the first half.  UIW finally took their first lead of the game after a 10-0 run that was capped by a Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) fast break layup.  The visitors led by as many as five points before LU came back and tied the game at halftime when Garth drained three straight free throws to make it 43-43 at the break.

The second half began much like the first half with Lamar immediately jumping out to an 8-point lead.  UIW came back with the next nine points of the game and reclaimed the lead at 54-53 on a layup by Shawn Johnson (New Orleans, LA/Alief Hastings HS).  The teams remained separated by one possession until Incarnate Word finally went up by five points with 1:30 remaining.

UIW improved to 12-8 on the season with a 7-2 mark in the conference.  Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS) led the team with 17 points, including 15 in the first half.  He knocked down three three-pointers and went 6-for-6 from the foul line.  Hittle and Sam Burmeister (San Antonio/Churchill HS) each scored 11 points and Hittle led the team with seven rebounds.  Simi Socks (Coppell/Coppell HS) scored 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field off the bench.  Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cy Falls HS) added nine points, six rebounds and six assists.  He became the first player in school history to dish out at least 100 assists in four straight seasons.  The team shot 45.8 percent from the field, made 6-of-19 from three-point range and was 24-of-28 at the foul line.

Lamar dropped to 10-13 overall and 2-9 in the conference.  Garth led the team with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists while Quan Jones scored 13 points.  Kevin Booze chipped in 11 points off the bench.  Josh Nzeakor led all players with 13 rebounds.  LU had four more rebounds than UIW and two less turnovers.

Incarnate Word is back in action on Monday night at 6:30 p.m. at Nicholls.
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