SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team took down the Southland Conference's second-ranked Sam Houston State Bearkats on Wednesday night in overtime, 72-71, in a signature win for Carson Cunningham and the Cardinals. 
 
"Really happy for the fellas," Cunningham said. "They are growing. They had a great practice yesterday and it carried over. They have been staying on the grind. Sam Houston State is a fantastic team. It was really neat to see the guys weather storms, stick with it, and grind out a victory. We are going to keep battling and keep striving to grow."
 
Cunningham said part of the Cardinals' offensive resurgence Wednesday night was due to some unique advice he received earlier in the week. 
 
"You know, I had a great chat with Ben Hart this week, who played at Princeton and coaches my first grade boy Indiana's team over at the Factory of Champions gym near campus," he said. "Ben talks so movingly of Pete Carroll and that classic Princeton offense. And it got me to watch some decades-old Princeton games and I think it really helped us conceptually tonight. So gotta thank Ben for that."
 
NOTABLES 

• Freshman guards Drew Lutz and Keaston Willis combined for 34 points, scoring 17 each. Willis connected on five 3-pointers for the fourth time this season, while Lutz hit a pair of triples and shot 5-7 from the free-throw line.
• Redshirt junior guard Des Balentine extended his streak of double-digit scoring to three games, posting 13 points, six rebounds and a career-high five assists. His seven made free throws and two blocked shots also were career bests.
• Vincent Miszkiewicz posted nine rebounds for the eleventh time this season, which leads the team. 
• UIW's perimeter defense provided problems for Sam Houston State all night, limiting the Bearkats to just 3-20 (15 percent) shooting from beyond the arc. 

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
The Cardinals controlled the tempo early, jumping out to a 10-5 lead shortly after the first media timeout and stringing together an 11-2 run up to the midway point of the first half. UIW kept the pressure high, adding an 8-2 run with six minutes left in the half. The Cardinals shot 56.5 percent from the floor in the period and went into halftime leading the Bearkats, 36-24.
 
SECOND HALF
The conference's second-ranked team wouldn't surrender easily, putting a 27-12 run together out of the break to take a 51-48 lead with eight minutes left in regulation. Buckets from Balentine, freshman guard Derek Van Vlerah and freshman guard Brandon Swaby sparked an 8-2 run that would return the lead to the Cardinals with five minutes remaining. UIW added a 6-0 run with just two minutes left that nearly put the game out of reach, but Sam Houston State responded with a 5-0 run, including three free throws from Demarkus Lampley with four seconds left in the game to force overtime at 62-62.
 
OVERTIME
The Bearkats struck first with a jumper from Zach Nutall, who led SHSU with 21 points. Drew Lutz responded with his second 3-pointer of the game to tie the game at 65. Back-to-back layups from SHSU gave the Bearkats a 71-67 lead with just 30 seconds left to play, but a timely 3-pointer from Willis followed by two clutch free throws from Balentine sealed the 72-71 win for the Cardinals. 
 
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will look to keep up the strong play against Southeastern Louisiana at 4:15 p.m. Saturday. 
 
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.