SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – A 13-1 second half run by the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team turned a one-point lead into a double-digit victory on Senior Day at the McDermott Center on Saturday.

The Cardinals (17-12, 12-6) swept the season series from visiting Southland Conference rival Houston Baptist University with their 97-86 win.  UIW only trailed for 43 seconds of the game when the Huskies briefly took a one-point lead at the start of the second half.

In the first half, the Cardinals were close to pulling away from the Huskies (16-15, 10-8) on a number of occasions, but HBU would not go away.  They shot 59.4 percent from the field and all six of their three-point attempts.  However, the Cardinals shot 65.6 percent from the floor and were 8-for-12 from three-point range to take a 51-47 lead into the halftime break.  Senior Kyle Hittle (New Braunfels/New Braunfels HS) scored 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting for Incarnate Word.

The Huskies scored the first five points of the second half and took a 52-51 lead.  The lead changed hands four times in the half and the Cardinals took the lead for good on a layup by Simi Socks (Coppell/Coppell HS) with 17:36 remaining.  UIW pushed the lead up to eight points a couple of times, but could not shake HBU.  A 9-2 run by the Huskies made it a one-point game with 7:31 remaining.

The Cardinals followed with a 13-1 run that included a thunderous fast break dunk and a three-pointer by Shawn Johnson (New Orleans, LA/Alief Hastings HS) were the big plays of the run.  Johnson was able to secure the win for UIW by making 10 straight free throws in the final 1:13 of the game.

Incarnate Word shot 57.4 percent from the field, made 10-of-25 from three-point range and was 17-of-19 from the foul line.  Johnson led the team with a career high 27 points and eight rebounds while shooting 7-of-10 from the field.  Hittle finished with 21 points and five assists on 9-of-13 shooting.  Socks and Jontrell Walker (Aurora, IL/West Aurora HS) scored 15 and 12 points, respectively off the bench.  Mitchell Badillo (Houston/Cy Falls HS), the second senior on the team, had 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds.  The team had two more rebounds than the Huskies while dishing out 24 assists against eight turnovers.

The Huskies shot 51.6 percent from the field, made 10-of-18 from three-point range and were 12-of-18 at the foul line.  Anthony Odunsi led the team with 22 points while Colter Lasher, Jourdan Stickler and Reveal Chukwujekwu scored in double figures.  Chukwujekwu led the team with seven rebounds.

The Cardinals closed out the regular season in a tie for third place in the Southland Conference.
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