HUNTSVILLE, Texas -- The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team lost a hard-fought Southland Conference game to Sam Houston State on Saturday evening, one whose 66-52 final score did not indicate the competitiveness that the Cardinals exhibited for most of the game.
 
UIW led by as many as nine in the first half and held a four-point margin at halftime. With 12:53 remaining in the second half, UIW led by one. With five minutes to go in the game, UIW scored consecutive three-point plays to close a larger deficit to five points. However, deadly shooting by Sam Houston's Cameron Delaney, who scored 22 of his 25 points in the second half, paved the way for the Bearkats' run in the last minutes.
 
UIW fell to 6-10 overall and 1-2 in the conference. Sam Houston improved to 8-8 and 3-0.
 
NOTABLES

• Dwight Murray Jr. led UIW with 18 points and Charles Brown III had 12. Antoine Smith Jr. had 12 rebounds.
• The Cardinals, national leaders in free-throw shooting, hit seven of eight from the line.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:

• UIW started Augustine Ene, Morgan Taylor, Murray, Smith and Brown.
• Buckets by Taylor and Smith, followed by a three-pointer by Brown, gave UIW a 7-3 lead at the first media timeout with 15:55 remaining in the half.
• Three buckets by Murray – one a three pointer – two by Taylor, and one by Smith built a nine-point Cardinal lead, 20-11, with 11:27 remaining.
• The UIW lead then fluctuated between seven and nine points before the Bearcats cut it to five with 5:06 remaining.
• Murray's three-pointer gave the Cardinals an eight-point lead at 3:45 remaining.
• Brown's reverse layup kept the margin at eight with 2:26 remaining.
• Sam Houston cut the margin to 33-29 with 17 seconds left before halftime.
• The Bearkats led by four at the half. UIW shot 48.3 percent from the floor and made both of its free throws.
• Murray led the Cardinals in first half scoring with 10 while Brown had nine and Taylor eight.
• Smith had seven rebounds.

Second Half:

• Sam Houston tied the score, 33-33, with 17:36 on the clock.
• A three-point play by Dwight Murray, a bucket and a free throw, put the Cardinals ahead by three.
• Delaney's two free throws gave SHSU its first lead of the second half, 37-36.
• Ene's layup put UIW back ahead by one, 38-37, with 12:53 left.
• SHSU took a six-point lead at 8:21 on a jumper my Marcus Harris.
• Ene's two free throws at 6:37 broke an 8-0 run by the Bearkats and cut the SHSU lead back to six.
• The Bearkats' increased their lead to 11 points at the 5:49 mark.
• A three-pointer by Brown and a bucket and free throw by Ene cut SHSU's lead to 54-49 with 5:12 left.
• From that point, Sam Houston outscored UIW, 12-4, to achieve its final margin. 

NEXT UP
UIW plays next on Jan. 16 against Central Arkansas at the McDermott Convocation Center on campus.  Tipoff time is 7 p.m.
 
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