NEW ORLEANS -- Gerrale Gates and Ezekiel Charles combined to score 35 points and lead New Orleans to its third straight Southland Conference victory, beating Incarnate Word 89-72 on Saturday.

Gates was 6 of 7 from the floor and 6 of 7 from the foul line to total 18 points. Charles added 17 points while pulling down nine rebounds for New Orleans (12-9, 7-3) which improved to 10-1 at home. UNO has won seven of its last nine conference games to hold down third place in the league standings.

Damion Rosser added 10 points with eight assists and five steals for New Orleans.

The Privateers took an early lead and were up 40-29 at the break.

Dwight Murray Jr. and Charles Brown III nailed back-to-back 3s as the Cardinals started the second half on a 19-7 run and took their first lead 48-47 after Brown completed a 3-point play with 14:04 remaining. The Privateers made six straight free throws to go ahead 56-50 and started to pull away after Jorge Rosa drained a trey with 12:11 left.

Christian Peevy had 25 points for Incarnate Word (6-16, 1-8) which lost its seventh straight game.