Rich Hardy, UIW guard, brushes past business sophomore Deron Taylor and kinesiology sophomore Cody Hastings on a drive to the basket Wednesday in the Wellness Center at UIW. Hardy made a 3-point play off Taylor’s foul. The Rangers lost to the Cardinals 104-98. Photo by R.T. Gonzalez
Fire science freshman Ajax Reyes maneuvers a layup around UIW guard R.J. Estrada and UIW forward Pete Perez on a drive to the basket Wednesday in the Wellness Center at UIW. Reyes scored on the play. The Rangers lost to the Cardinals 104-98. Photo by R.T. Gonzalez
The Rangers fail to execute down the stretch and suffer their second loss of the season.
By Jose Arredondo
sac-ranger@alamo.edu
The University of Incarnate Word’s Cardinals defeated this college’s Rangers 104-98 Wednesday in the Wellness Center.
Ear-splitting fans, and limited seating forced several student’s to sit on the floor.
The crowd played a significant role in a game that had 16 lead changes.
Business senior Josh Garrison led the Cardinals with 32 points and nine rebounds.
“I owe it to my teammates,” Garrison said “They hit us with a full court press and my teammates found me open every time.”
Jon McMillan, UIW forward, gets fouled on the way to the basket by business sophomore Deron Taylor and guarded by biology sophomore Rey Esquivel Wednesday in the Wellness Center at UIW. This college’s Rangers lost to the UIW Cardinals 104-98. Photo by R.T. Gonzalez
Rey Esquevil led the Rangers with 27 points and three rebounds.
“I played well, but it doesn’t matter because we lost,” Esquevil said. “We just got to move on to the next game.”
The Cardinals out-rebounded the Rangers 28-15.
The Cardinals also committed 14 turnovers, but forced 21 Ranger turnovers, including the game-winning play.
The Rangers controlled the pace of the game early on and led by as many as 9 points. Nonetheless, the Cardinals started to slow the game to a tie at the half.
“For most of the first half, we were playing their game,” coach Fabian Villarreal said. “Once we slowed the game down and ran sets, we knew we had an opportunity to win the game.”
In the final 10 minutes of play, the lead changed 13 times and the score was tied seven times.
Kinesiology sophomore Cody Hastings’ 3-pointer gave the Rangers a 96-92 point lead with 2 minutes remaining in the game.
However, Al Furcow, a graduate student in higher education, cut the Rangers’ lead when he answered with a 3-pointer of his own, making the score 96-95.
Business sophomore Deron Taylor lifted the Rangers lead to 98-95 with a little over a minute left. Although the Rangers led, they were in foul trouble and Taylor fouled out. Furcow made the Rangers pay at the free-throw line by hitting both, and the Cardinals trailed 98-97.
Three costly turnovers in the final minute eventually spelled the Rangers’ demise.
The Cardinals put the game away scoring 7 unanswered points at the free-throw-line.
“We didn’t take care of the ball down the stretch,” coach Lou Martinez said. “We need a lot more work executing down the stretch; you don’t take care of the ball at the end, you are going to lose.”
The 1-2 Rangers seek to bounce back at 8 p.m. Nov. 5 in Gym 2 of Candler.
For more information, call 210-486-0125.
