Box Score - Photo Gallery
 
SAN ANTONIO – The Tarleton Texans led 63-62 with 3:13 left to play, but a 9-0 run from Incarnate Word helped prevail the Cardinals to a 72-67 win over the Texans at the McDermott Center in San Antonio on Saturday.
 
Tarleton poured in the game's first five points with buckets from Brian Word (G, Sr, Baltimore, Md.) and A'Darius Pegues (F, Jr, Louisville, Ky.) to go along with a free throw from Chuck Guy (G, Jr, Fort Worth).
 
UIW finally got on the board with a free throw from Dionelle Rucker at the 16:21 mark, but the Cardinals did not put in its first field goal until an Anthony Horton three-pointer with 15:01 left to play made it a 10-4 game.
 
Davene Carter (F, So, Duncanville) – who did not start for the first time this season – poured in six-straight points for the Texans midway through the first half. His sixth point of the game at the 7:53 mark put Tarleton up 18-13, but UIW countered by way of a 9-3 run and the Cardinals took its first lead of the game with 4:45 left to play in the half on a three-pointer from Denzel Livingston, which made it a 22-21 game.
 
Guy put the Texans back on top as he completed a three-point-play following a lay-up and free throw to make it a 24-22 game. Rucker was fouled at the other end of the floor though and he tied the game at 24-24 following a pair of free throws.
 
Jon Cathey-Macklin (F, Jr, Milwaukee, Wis.) was called for goal tending with 2:43 left to play giving UIW a 26-24 lead. Tarleton answered with a bucket from Damion Clemons (F, So, Dallas) and a pair of free throws from Michael Hardge (G, Fr, Georgetown), but UIW came right back with Horton's second three-pointer of the half to take a 29-28 lead into the locker room.
 
The Texans shot 45.8 percent from the field in the first half, but were just 2-for-9 from downtown. UIW shot 40.9 percent from the field, which included going 5-for-11 from beyond the arc.
 
Not known for out-rebounding opponents, UIW managed to win the rebounding margin in the first half with a 17-13 advantage. Tarleton did however force one more turnover than the Cardinals though, coughing up the ball seven times to UIW's eight turnovers.
 
The Cardinals opened the second half with a 10-4 run and led by as many as eight points over the first 10 minutes of the second period. UIW took a 44-36 lead with 14:21 left and later made it a 46-38 game on a lay-up from Hasani Sumbry with 13:21 remaining in the game.
 
Since that point though, the Texans went on an 11-3 run and the Texans came all the way back to tie the game at 49-49 with a pair of free throws from Coleman Furst (G, Jr, Denison) at the 7:54 mark.
 
Both teams traded buckets over the next three and a half minutes until a pair of Cathey-Macklin put-backs to go along with a pair of free throws from Furst pushed Tarleton's lead to 61-57 with 4:06 left to play in the half.
 
Coming out of the final media timeout, UIW's Andre Corley hit a three-pointer with 2:28 left to play, which put the Cardinals back in the lead 65-63. Tarleton's next possession was stolen away and LynDale Brown scored on a lay-up with 1:30 left to play and he was fouled as well. Brown missed the free throw, but UIW pulled down its 33^rd rebound of the game and managed to get a timeout with 1:26 left to play.
 
Coming into the game, UIW averaged just 30.4 rebounds per game. At the time of the rebound for the Cardinals, Tarleton had managed to just pull down 27 boards in the game, giving UIW a rebounding margin of plus-three.
 
With one foul to give, the Texans allowed the Cardinals to run its offense and Corley nailed a fade-away-jumper to push UIW's lead to 69-63. Tarleton turned the ball over on its ensuing possession and despite getting a four-point-play from De'Andre Upchurch (G, Jr, Flint, Mich.) with 16 seconds left, the Cardinals still came away with a five-point advantage when the final horn was sounded, giving UIW the win 72-67.
 
The Texans shot 44 percent from the field on the evening, but allowed UIW to shoot 52 percent from the floor and allowed the Cardinals to go 9-for-17 from downtown.
 
UIW out-rebounded the Texans 36-28 after coming into the contest with a -7.0 rebounding margin.
 
Guy led the Texans in scoring with 13 points on the evening. He also led the Texans on the boards with six rebounds on the night.
 
Despite not getting the start on Saturday, Carter came into the game off the bench and tallied 10 points for the Texans. Upchurch (11 points) and Furst (10 points) tallied double-figures for the Texans on the night as well.
 
The Texans fell to 8-3 overall and 2-2 in the Lone Star Conference following the five-point loss. Tarleton moves to 0-2 on the road as well. The loss also snapped a four-game winning streak for the Texans. Meanwhile, UIW improved to 7-5 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
 
The Texans will return home this Wednesday, Jan. 9, to face Cameron in another LSC contest. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. inside Wisdom Gym in Stephenville.