SAN ANTONIO – In a game that featured 20 lead changes and 15 instances when the score was tied, the University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team battled to the finish in a 96-92 loss to Houston Baptist University on Wednesday night at the McDermott Center on campus.
 
UIW fell to 6-15 overall and 1-7 in Southland Conference play. HBU is now 6-13 and 2-6 in league play.
 
NOTABLES

• Dwight Murray Jr. and Jordan Caruso each scored career bests with 20 and 18 points, respectively. Christian Peevy and Augustine Ene each scored 15.
• UIW led by nine points and HBU led by seven during the second half, but for the preponderance of the game the score was within four points.
• The Cardinals recorded 11 steals against HBU, a season high.
• Four players on each team played most of the second half with four fouls each. However, only one player on each team fouled out.
• UIW's 92 points were the most that the Cardinals have scored in a single game this season.
• UIW shot 56.6 percent from the floor; HBU shot 56.1 after hitting 69 percent in the second half.
• The Cardinals protected their national lead in free throw shooting percentage with a 19-22 (86.3) performance from the charity stripe.
• Braxton Bonds (27) and Jalon Gates (18) led HBU in scoring. Gates scored all of his points in the second half.
• Gates scored HBU's last eight points, all in the game's final two minutes.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half:

• UIW started Ene, Peevy, Murray, Caruso and Charles Brown III.
• Two layups by Brown, two by Ene, and a three-pointer by Ene gave UIW an 11-6 lead at the first media timeout.
• HBU took a 12-11 lead on a slam dunk by Edward Hardt with 14:12 remaining.
• Ene's three pointer tied the score at 14-14 with 12:48 left.
• HBU then held the lead, which varied between two and four points, until Ene's three pointer put the Cardinals ahead, 21-19, with 9:47 left.
• Cody Graham's top-of-the-key three pointer gave UIW a 24-22 lead at 8:29.
• Ene's three pointer gave the Cardinals a 27-26 lead with 6:43 to go until halftime.
• After a three-point play by the Huskies, Jordan Caruso's layup knotted the score at 29-29 with 6:27 left.
• After HBU took a four-point lead, Peevy's jump and free throw cut the margin to one at 4:13. Then, at 3:57, Murray's three-pointer gave the Cardinals a 37-35 lead.
• A subsequent three pointer by Murray gave the Cards a 40-37 lead with 2:52 left
• The Huskies took a two-point lead, 42-40, on two free throws and a three point field goal.
• After the Huskies took a four-point lead, Peevy's dunk with 36 seconds left cut the HBU lead to two.
• With seconds left, Murray intercepted an HBU pass and fed Caruso – whose driving layup and add-one free throw put the Cardinals ahead by one point at halftime, 45-44.
• The lead changed hands 13 times and the game was tied on eight occasions during the first half.
• UIW shot a red-hot 60.7 percent from the floor during the first half; HBU was held to 45.9 percent.
• Augustine Ene had 13 points on the first half stat sheet. Caruso scored 10.
• Braxton Bonds and Ian DuBose led HBU with 11 and nine points, respectively.

Second Half:

• HBU started the half with a four-point run, but consecutive Cardinal three-pointers by Brown and Caruso gave UIW a three-point lead, 51-48, at 18:14.
• Three buckets by Brown, two of which were three pointers, and two baskets by Caruso highlighted a 12-0 scoring run that gave the Cardinals their largest lead of the game --  a nine-point margin at 57-48 with 15:54 left on the clock.
• A five-point run by HBU cut the UIW lead to four, but Brown's free throws boosted the Cardinal lead to 59-53 with 14:20 left
• Peevy's layup with 13:30 left gave the Cardinals a 61-53 lead.
• Ene's two free throws at 12:44 preserved UIW's eight-point lead, 63-55.
• Thanks to an 8-0 run, the Huskies cut the UIW lead to one, 63-62, with 10:45 left,.
• After HBU took a one-point lead, Smith hit a three-pointer to give the Cardinals a 66-64 lead with 10:11 left
• HBU took a two-point lead, but Murray's two free throws tied the score, 68-68 with 8:49 left.
• Graham's two free throws at 8:18, pulled UIW within one, 71-70.
• Murray's three pointer at 7:44 gave the Cardinals a 73-71 lead.
• Antoine Smith's two free throws gave UIW a 75-73 lead with 7:10 left.
• HBU took a four-point lead, 79-75, with 5:55 left.
• Going into the last six minutes, UIW had four players with four fouls; HBU had three.
• HBU took an 82-75 lead but Peevy's jumper and free throw cut the Husky lead to 82-78.
• A layup and a three pointer, the latter at 4:10, cut HBU's lead to one, 84-83.
• At 2:54, UIW tied the score, 86-86, on a driving layup by Peevy and his subsequent free throw.
• Peevy's two free throws with 2:21 left again knotted the score at 88-88.
• After a three pointer by the Huskies' Gates at 2:02, UIW's Caruso hit one free throw to narrow HBU's lead to two.
• A layup by Gates with 32.6 seconds left gave HBU a 93-89 lead.
• With 11 seconds left, Gates scored again on a dunk to give HBU a six-point lead.
• Smith's three pointer with three seconds left cut HBU's margin to 95-92.
• Gates' free throw with 0.5 of a second on the clock gave the Huskies a 96-92 final margin. Gates scored his team's last eight points of the game.

NEXT UP
UIW travels to the Big Easy on Saturday for a Southland Conference game against the New Orleans Privateers. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m.

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