SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team suffered a 91-83 defeat to Nicholls on Saturday evening despite a second half surge that nearly saw UIW erase a 16-point halftime deficit.  
 
Jordan Pyke led all scorers with 24 points and equaled a game-high seven rebounds. Harold Woods added 16 tallies for the Cardinals and also grabbed seven boards. Davion Bailey contributed 16 points of his own.
 
The Cardinals' best run in the first half was 6-0 on two separate occasions, and both allowed them to get back into the game. The Colonels raced out to a 10-2 lead early on, but a pair of three-pointers in a row by Tahj Staveskie and Bailey closed the gap. Later, UIW trailed 33-21 with seven minutes to play in the opening period and used three straight buckets to inch closer with just over five minutes remaining.
 
Nicholls was just too much in the first frame, however. The Colonels went 17-of-29 (56%) from the field and 6-of-11 (55%) from distance. Nicholls' Jaylen Searless led all scorers with 12 first-half points, while Pyke paced the Cardinals with seven tallies.
 
UIW roared back at the start of the second half. The Cardinals put together a 13-2 run over the first 5:30 of the period, cutting a 16-point halftime deficit (46-30) to five (48-43). UIW was 6-of-8 from the floor in that stretch, led by Pyke's eight tallies.
 
Nicholls' advantage hovered between five and nine points for the following 7:30 of game time. UIW cut it down to four (62-58) with eight minutes remaining. However, a 10-4 spurt in favor of the Colonels lifted their lead back to 10 at the 5:30 mark of the second half. 
 
The Cardinals pulled to within five with 42 seconds left, but that was as close as they got down the stretch. UIW outscored Nicholls 53-45 in the second half. The Cardinals connected on eight triples in the period compared to the Colonels' two and won the rebounding battle 17-10. However, the come-from-behind effort fell just short as Nicholls held on for a 91-83 victory.
 
UIW returns to action on Monday at 6:30 p.m. when it hosts New Orleans.
 
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