The ACU basketball team’s traveled to San Antonio Wednesday to take on Incarnate Word. The men’s team dropped a close game 56-52, while the women’s team defeated the Cardinals 72-58.
The men’s team played well against the 13th ranked Cardinals, as they took a 25-24 lead into halftime. ACU would start the second half on a small 6-1 run to expand its lead to 31-25. However, the Cardinals came back and finally would tie the game at 48-48 with only 3:53 left in the game.
The Cardinals would not look back as they pushed their lead up to five points. ACU hit a three-pointer that cut the Cardinal lead to 54-52 with 13 seconds left in the game. However, Incarnate Word would hit both of its free throws to ice the game.
“I thought for 36-37 minutes we did a really good job playing. Then we just made some critical mistakes down the stretch,” said head coach Jason Copeland.  “A couple bad turnovers and a missed defensive assignment.  You cant make those mistakes against a good Incarnate Word team and expect to win.”
Giordan Cole led the Wildcats with 12 points and seven rebounds. Zach Williams and Preston Davis were also in double figures for the Wildcats, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 8Â-9 overall and 0-5 in division play. While the Cardinals improve to 15-2 overall and 4-1 in conference.
“It was another tough loss for us,” junior forward Ben Wharton said. ” We will get one of these. We just have to keep working hard.”
The women’s team defeated Incarnate Word 72-58, as they outscored the Cardinals by 12 in the second half to put the game away.
After leading by as much as 11, the Wildcats had to settle for a 27-25 lead at halftime. The Cardinals would take the lead early in the second half 40-37. However, ACU would regain the lead with a 16-4 run of its own.
Overall, the Wildcats would outrebound the Cardinals 58-37. ACU shot 46 percent from the field and committed only 16 turnovers. Kelsey Smith and Mack Lankford led the Wildcats with 20 points each in the victory. Renata Marquez added 15 points for ACU off the bench.
The victory improves the Wildcats’ record to 6-11 overall, and 3-2 in division play. ACU is now alone in third place in the LSC South.
Both the men’s and women’s team will return home Saturday to take on Eastern New Mexico in Moody Coliseum. The women’s game is set to start at 2 p.m., with the men’s game to follow at 4 p.m.
“They have played well on the road, they beat WT on the road,” Copeland said. “They beat Kingsville by 30.  There is never a night off in this league.”
