BEAUMONT, Texas – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team fell Wednesday on the road against Lamar, 86-66.
 
"Tonight was a struggle for us, particularly defensively," Cardinals coach Carson Cunningham said. "Lamar did a good job of asserting themselves physically. We are going to have to dig deep these last three games. We have a lot of young guys and a 20-game conference slate probably seems quite demanding physically compared to high school. We need to fight through that, keep sticking with it."
 
NOTABLES 

• Sophomore guard Dwight Murray Jr. set a new career high for points with 23, going 9-14 from the field and 2-2 from beyond the arc. He also tallied four rebounds and three assists. 
• Junior guard Des Balentine put together another well-rounded performance, dropping 15 points with four assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals.
• Freshman forward Vincent Miszkiewicz pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to go along with nine points, an assist, a steal and a block. 
• Freshman center Marcus Larsson finished with 11 points and six rebounds.
• UIW outscored Lamar 38-28 in the paint and won the second-chance points battle, 18-8.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
Lamar opened the game on a 12-4 run over the first four minutes, but UIW closed the gap after freshman guard Drew Lutz was fouled behind the 3-point line and sank all three free throws. Balentine hit a layup to make it a 14-9 game, but Lamar continued its scorching start offensively with a 20-8 run with just under eight minutes left to play in the half. A pair of layups from Murray Jr. and a shot from Balentine led to a modest 6-0 run for the Cardinals with about five minutes left, and UIW added a 7-0 run with two minutes left to cut the deficit to 42-32. Lamar responded with a pair of free throws and a jumper to take a 46-32 lead into the break.
 
SECOND HALF
UIW jumped out to a 6-3 run to come within 11, but Lamar countered with an 8-0 to extend its lead to 57-40. Larsson hit back-to-back layups to reignite the Cardinal offense and Murray Jr. scored six straight points to cap off an 11-5 run for UIW. Lamar closed the game on an 11-5 run to seal the 86-66 win.
 
UP NEXT
UIW will look to bounce back against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at 5:30 p.m. (CT) Saturday, Feb. 29.
 
STAY TUNED 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwcardinals.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook. 

The UIW men's basketball team is on Twitter at @UIWMBB and Instagram at @uiwmensbasketball.