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SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In a game that featured 12 lead changes and 10 tied scores, the HBU men's basketball came out on the wrong end of an 82-77 game against Incarnate Word on Saturday afternoon at the McDermott Convocation Center.
 
The score remained close early on with neither team taking a lead greater than two until the 13:47 mark when UIW's Shawn Johnson made a bucket and a free throw to make it an 11-8 game. The Cardinals (7-10, 2-4 SLC) extended their lead to 15-10 on a Johnson layup but a Josh Ibarra layup and Will Gates Jr. jumper pulled HBU (7-9, 3-3 SLC) within one at the media timeout with 11:15 on the clock. Immediately after the timeout, Jalon Gates knocked down a three to give the Huskies a 17-15 lead.
 
The HBU lead got as large at five, 22-17, but the Cardinals followed with a 13-point run for the largest lead of the first half, 30-22, after a pair of Jalin Hart free throws. The Huskies answered with eight-straight to tie the game at 30-30 after consecutive Ibarra layups. UIW again took a five-point lead but Ibarra's seventh basket of the half and a pair of Reveal Chukwujekwu free throws send the Huskies into the half trailing 37-36.
 
The Huskies opened the second half with a 12-4 run with senior Alex Fountain accounting for 10 of those points. He knocked down three three-pointers and a free throw in the first three minutes of the half. At the first media stoppage of the second stanza HBU held a 48-43 advantage. Another Fountain three five minutes in gave the Huskies their largest lead of the game to that point, 51-43. The Cardinals fought back and made it a one-point game on a pair of Simi Socks free throws with 11:21 on the clock.
 
With HBU taking a 58-54 lead, back-to-back threes put UIW back ahead but HBU answered with an Ibarra dunk to tie the game 60-60 with 7:48 to play. The two teams went back and forth with the score knotted at 70-70 but a pair of three-pointers by Jorden Kite and Socks gave the Cardinnals a 76-72 lead but Asa Cantwell responded with a three to pull HBU within one. With 44 second remaining, a Hart steal led to a fast break layup and a 78-75 UIW lead. The Huskies didn't get any closer the rest of the way.
 
Ibarra posted his third consecutive double-double for the Huskies, totaling 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting and lead all players with 12 rebounds. The junior is now shooting 67.9 percent in Southland Conference play. Fountain finished with 16 points, connecting on 5-of-7 from the floor and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Chukwujekwu added 12 points and eight boards for HBU.
 
The Cardinals were led by Hart with 23 points while Socks pitched in 22. Tyler Singleton and Kite both also reached double-digits in scoring with 13 and 10, respectively.
 
HBU held a 41-32 advantage on the boards, including 15 rebounds on the offensive end that the Huskies turned in to 14 second-chance points. The Huskies finished the game shooting 44.4 percent (28-of-63) from the field while UIW shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56).
 
HBU continues its current road stretch with a pair of games in Louisiana beginning Thursday, Jan. 19 against New Orleans at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La. at 7:00 p.m.