BEAUMONT, Texas – Winners of three straight and five of the past six, the Lamar University Cardinals head to San Antonio, Texas Wednesday to face their nickname counterpart – the Incarnate Word Cardinals. LU is fresh off its three-point victory over league-leading Sam Houston State and looking to continue the Southland second-longest current win streak.
 
After a slow start to the season, the Cardinals appear to have turned a corner having won five of six and jumping from a tie for 11^th in the standings all the way to fifth place with five games remaining. The game at UIW will kick off a two-game road swing which will be the final two road games of the season as LU will close the year at home with three straight against Houston Baptist, Stephen F. Austin and McNeese.
 
The LU Cardinals (14-12/7-6 SLC) are above .500 in conference play for the first time this season but are sitting in a very precarious position. The Cardinals are two games back of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana and sit just a half game up on Stephen F. Austin in the standings.
 
San Antonio's version of the Cardinals enter the game looking to right the ship, and LU is hoping that process doesn't get started Wednesday. UIW enters the week 6-19 (.240) overall and last in the league standings with a 1-11 (.083) mark – two games back of McNeese. San Antonio's Cardinals have dropped 10 straight and 14 of their past 15, with the lone win during that stretch coming against Nicholls at the beginning of the season.
 
Wednesday will be the second meeting this season between the two sets of Redbird, and LU need only look back at the first meeting to know how tough an opponent UIW will be. The Red and White won the first meeting by six, 87-81, but had to rally in overtime for the decision.
 
Big Red holds a slim 5-4 (.556) series advantage lead over Incarnate Word. The LU Cardinals have had the upper hand in the series lately winning four straight which includes the overtime victory in Beaumont earlier this season. Big Red is just 1-3 (.250) all-time in games played in San Antonio, with the victory coming the last time the two teams met in the McDermott Center, 90-69.
Wednesday's game is slated to tip off at 7 p.m. from the McDermott Center. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560.