NATCHITOCHES, La. – Sophomores Keaston Willis and Brandon Swaby and freshman Logan Bracamonte continued with their strong performances as the trio of University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball student-athletes led the Cardinals to a 75-67 victory over Northwestern State on Wednesday night at Prather Coliseum in the team's Southland Conference opener. 
 
The win snapped a four-game losing streak against the Demons and was the program's first Southland Conference opening win since joining in 2013-14.
 
Willis, the SLC's leading scorer, boosted his scoring average with a game-high 22-point performance on 8-of-19 shooting and another perfect free throw effort (5-for-5) to go along with six assists. Swaby knocked down three 3-point attempts en route to a 14-point performance and Bracamonte recorded his third double-digit performance of the season with 11 in the contest.
 
UIW (4-4, 1-0 SLC) came out hot from the start as it built a 9-3 lead in the first five minutes. Sophomore Marcus Larsson just missed his third-double-double effort, which started off promising Wednesday night when he connected on a pair of 10-foot jumpers and corralled four rebounds in the first five minutes of the ball game. The Cardinals limited a struggling Northwestern State offense to 1-for-12 shooting to open a comfortable 11-5 lead with just under 14 minutes to play.  
 
The Demons (1-12, 0-2 SLC) fought back as they hit the next three-of-four shots to close the gap, 14-12 Cardinals, halfway through the period. Bracamonte extended the lead with a pair of treys from the left corner to give UIW a 17-12 lead midway through the first half. 
 
Down the stretch, the Demons and Cardinals each traded leads with 12-2 and 10-2 runs, respectively, before Swaby and Bracamonte nailed back-to-back threes to pull the black and red out front, 32-26. A late NSU foul with a second left allowed GG Ezedinma to drain two free throws and carry a 34-26 edge to the break. 
 
The Cardinals shot 40 percent from the field, knocked down four threes and were 10-of-14 at the line, but turned the tide in the second half to earn the victory.
 
Willis stretched the lead to 11 (39-28) with a tough three-point play as the Cardinals held a 7-2 run three minutes into the second frame for the first double-digit lead in the game. From there, UIW continued to increase its lead up to 14 before NSU chipped away to get within six (50-44) with a tick over ten minutes to play, but The Cardinals' offense got hot as Drew Lutz hit an open trey.
 
After missing the last three games, Lutz erupted for ten points in the second half to maintain a double-digit lead. With the Cardinals up by 15 (67-52), the Demons added a full-court press with three minutes to go. NSU went on an 11-2 run, but it was too little, too late as the Cardinals clinched the 75-67 victory to open Southland Conference play. 
 
UIW's defense came alive once again, limiting the Demons to 36.5 percent shooting (23-of-63) with 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from long-range and forced 14 turnovers as the Cardinals converted on 48 percent (14-of-25) from the field and 54.5 percent (6-of-11) from 3-point range to out-pace NSU.
 
Trenton Massner led the scoring attack for the Demons, finishing with 17 points while also grabbing nine boards, Jairus Roberson added 14 points and Jamaure Gregg had seven points with 11 rebounds.
 
Coach Cunningham said 
"I am delighted for the fellas. They are working very hard and competing with fire. Northwestern State is a tough outfit with a lot of weapons and the squad is very well-coached. We are grateful we were able to come out, compete and get a win for Incarnate Word. In this league, the games are all battles. We will enjoy this one on the ride to New Orleans and get ready to prepare for the Privateers." 
 
LOOKING AHEAD 
UIW remains on the road in Louisiana with a meeting at New Orleans on Saturday night at 6 p.m. CT. The Cardinals host McNeese on Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. in the team's conference home-opener before hosting Southland Conference preseason favorite, SFA, on Saturday, Jan. 16, at 6:30 p.m. 
 
FOLLOW ALONG 
For the most up-to-date information on UIW Athletics, visit uiwathletics.com, follow the Cardinals on Twitter @UIWAthletics and like UIW Athletics on Facebook. 
 
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