Men's Basketball 12/20/2012 12:58:00 AM

Men’s Basketball Thumped by Incarnate Word

Box Score SAN ANTONIO, Texas (December 19) – The Incarnate Word Cardinals shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half and used a 23-3 run to hand the TAMIU men’s basketball team an 80-69 loss Wednesday night at the McDermott Center in San Antonio.

The Dustdevils struggled against the length and athleticism of the Cardinals, who outscored TAMIU 46-24 in the paint. Incarnate Word also out-rebounded the Dustdevils 37-28 and registered nine total blocks.

TAMIU started the game hot and jumped off to an 18-10 start behind the shooting of Johnel Gray and Felipe Vezaro. The Dustdevils began too cool off as the half drew on and Incarnate Word was able to grab their first lead of the game at 22-21 off a Dionelle Rucker lay-in with 6:10 remaining. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the way, but the Cardinals were able to grab the late momentum with an offensive rebound and put back by Hasani Sumbry with only nine seconds remaining. TAMIU went into the half trailing 35-30.

The Dustdevils opened the second half with a 7-2 run to tie the game at 37, but followed with a nine minute stretch without a field goal allowing the Cardinals to blow the game open. The Cardinals went on a 23-3 run over the nine minute run, jumping out to a commanding 60-40 lead.
TAMIU turned up the defensive pressure after falling behind and was able to trim the lead down to 14, but that’s as close as they would come as the Cardinals rolled to a 21-point win.

The Cardinals were led by sophomore guard Denzel Livingston who led the home team with 21 points, eight rebounds, five blocks, four assists, and three steals. He finished 8-12 from the field with a pair of three-pointers.

Incarnate Word shot a blazing 59.6 percent from the field and were 21-25 at the free throw line. Four other players scored in double figures for the Cardinals including Dionelle Rucker, Kyle Hittle, Anthony Horton, and Hasani Sumby who finished with 18, 15, 10, and 10 points respectively.

TAMIU shot just 33.3 percent from the field and knocked down only 6-24 three-point attempts. The Dustdevils also struggled from the free-throw line sinking just 13-26 attempts. Damal Donaldson scored a team high 12 points for TAMIU, while Johnel Gray added 11 points and seven rebounds.

The loss drops the Dustdevils record to 5-4 on the season as TAMIU gets set to return to conference play. The Dustdevils will host back-to-back home games versus Oklahoma Panhandle State and UT-Permian Basin stating on January 3, 2013.

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