SAN ANTONIO - The University of the Incarnate Word men's basketball team kept its season alive with a 72-60 win over the Lamar Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.
 
Davion Bailey scored 26 and Tahj Staveskie had 21, shooting a combined 50 percent from the field in the victory.
 
Five minutes into the contest the Cardinals trailed for the first time, 9-10. It was then that Bailey made a steal and found Staveskie for an easy layup, which fueled a Cardinal 15-to-one run, allowing UIW to take full control of the game up 24-11.
 
Everything went the UIW Cardinals way for the rest of the first half on the offensive end as every Cardinal that saw action scored. On the defensive end UIW forced eight turnovers and held Lamar to a season low 22 points in 20 minutes.
 
Coming out of the locker room Lamar couldn't miss, cutting into the UIW lead. Just as Lamar looked to get another stop and cut the Cardinal lead to single digits, Harold Woods knocked down a timely corner three, stopping the run, 44-30.
 
With 8:28 remaining Bailey found his way to the basket for an easy lay-in. The Cardinals wouldn't make a field goal for nearly eight minutes. However, thanks to their stellar defense that forced 15 turnovers on the day, the closest Lamar would come was seven, 56-63. On the ensuing possession Staveskie knocked down a step-back 3-pointer pushing the UIW lead back to double-digits with 41 seconds on the clock. The Cardinals walked away with a 72-60 win.
 
It will be a must win for the UIW Cardinals on Monday night when the Southland Conference regular season champions Stephen F. Austin comes to town for the final regular season game of the year.
 
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