BEAUMONT, Texas – A game that pit two teams with very similar stat lines entering the night came right down to the wire, and then some, as Lamar University defeated Incarnate Word, 87-81, in overtime Wednesday evening at the Montagne Center. It marked the fourth time this season LU has played an overtime game, but the first time the Red and White came out on top.
 
"At the end of the day we got the win and that is the most important thing, but we made too many mental breakdowns especially on defense," said LU head coach Tic Price. "At times, we didn't follow the scouting report and that is very disappointing. We struggled again from the free throw line, but go the job done in overtime. The flip side of that is if we hit one more in regulation the game doesn't go to overtime. We still have a lot of work to do. I thought Incarnate Word played really hard tonight."
 
The victory put an end to a three-game slide for the Cardinals (9-10/2-4 Southland) but extended UIW's losing streak to four games.
 
The Cardinals finished the night with one of their better shooting performances of the season converting 29-of-54 (.537) attempts, including seven triples. The Cardinals were 22-of-32 (.688) from the free throw line and converted 11-of-12 (.917) attempts in the overtime.
 
Big Red got a huge boost off the bench scoring 36 points from its reserves. The Cardinals' bench outscored UIW's reserves, 36-17.
 
Senior Josh Nzeakor led four Cardinals in double figures scoring 22 points on a near perfect 9-of-11 from the field. Nzeakor also pulled down seven rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded a steal. Junior Jordan Hunter added 17 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, while senior Nick Garth added 16 points. Junior Michael Kolawole came off the bench to score 10 for the Cards.
 
UIW (6-13/1-5 SLC) also shot better than 50 percent for the night (30-of-58/.517) riding a strong second half. The Southland's other Cardinals were 15-of-25 (.600) in the second half and went on a 25-12 run late in the game to force overtime.
 
UIW had five players in double figures, led by Christian Peevy's game-high 26 points.
 
LU knocked down 63 percent of their attempts, including 5-of-10 threes, in the opening half to build a 13-point advantage late in the first half. Despite trailing 34-21 with just over five minutes remaining, UIW went on a run to close the gap before intermission. San Antonio's version of the Cardinals went on a 14-5 run to trim the deficit to four, 39-35, with less than a minute remaining. LU got the final say of the half when Garth hit a three-pointer with seconds left to take a seven-point lead, 42-35, into the locker room.
 
It was another quick start for the Cardinals in the second half, as the Red and White rattled off 16-9 run to take a 14-point advantage with just under 13 minutes remaining. Similar to the first half, the visitors would make a late charge to make things interesting.
 
Trailing by 12 with 8:28 remaining, UIW got a triple from Dwight Murray trimming the deficit to single digits. UIW would score two more baskets before Kolawole got Big Red back in the scoring column with a layup. UIW continued to chip away at the lead and put Hunter on the free throw line, down one, with eight seconds remaining. Hunter hit one-of-two to give the Cards a 74-72 lead, but it wasn't enough as UIW's Christian Peevy hit a baseline turnaround jumper in traffic to tie the game at 74 with 1.7 seconds remaining.
 
LU appeared to be in trouble following an and-one from Peevy to give the bad guys a two-point lead with less than two to play. Big Red immediately responded when Hunter got bumped while burying a 15-footer from the right elbow. He converted the three-point play to give LU back a one-point lead and the Cardinals never surrendered the lead after that. The Red and White closed the game by hitting their next five free throw attempts for the victory.
 
The Cardinals return to action Saturday when they travel to Huntsville, Texas to take on Sam Houston State. The game against the Bearkats will tip off at 5:30 p.m. from Johnson Coliseum. It can be heard live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and can be seen on ESPN3.