HAYS, Kan. - Second half offensive struggles proved deadly for the Jets, as Newman dropped a 77-48 decision to Fort Hays State Monday night at Gross Coliseum in Hays. Justin Berry's 11 points led the Jets in the loss.

Newman (3-2) started the game with a Jake Darby three-pointer on its first possession of the game to take an early 3-0 lead, but Fort Hays State (4-0) answered with a three of its own on the following possession to tie the game at 3-3, and started an exchange of baskets. Neither team led by more than four for the next six minutes, but slowly the Tigers started to pull away. FHSU pushed their lead to 14, 35-21, with 2:32 left in the half, but the Jets ended the half on a 9-0 run thanks to back-to-back Chip Steven threes, and a traditional three-point play from Justin Berry, and pulled within five, 35-30, by the halftime break.

Berry's free throw ended up being the last point Newman scored until the 13:52 mark of the second half when a Terrell Northington free throw broke a 17-0 Tiger run to start the half. Newman didn't score its first field goal until the 11:23 mark when Steven sank another three from in front of his own bench, but the damage had been done as the Jets trailed 60-34. The news didn't get any better from there, as the red-hot Tigers continued to roll en route to the 77-48 win.

Justin Berry led the Jets with 11 points in the contest, while Jaray Mathews was Newman's high rebounder with six boards.

Tim Peintner led the Tigers with 19 points.

As a team, the Jets shot just 30.2 percent from the field, and 52.9 percent from the charity stripe. The Jets made just seven of their 29 attempts from beyond the arc for a 24.1 percentage.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 3-2 on the season. They will be back in action Saturday when they host Manhattan Christian in a 7 p.m. contest inside Fugate Gymnasium.