ODESSA, Texas - The Newman men's basketball team held Texas-Permian Basin to 18 first half points, while Jake Darby scored a team-high 12 points and the Jets picked up a 63-50 win over the Falcons Thursday night inside the Falcon Dome in Odessa, Texas. Every active player on the Newman roster played at least three minutes in the win.

Keaton Schultz opened the scoring for Newman (13-4, 6-1 Heartland) with a trey on the very first possession of the game to give the blue-clad Jets an early 3-0 lead. It was all Jets for the first half, as Newman opened up a 13-4 lead at the 15:10 mark. Texas-Permian Basin (5-12, 2-6 Heartland) responded with a 6-2 run over the next four minutes, and cut Newman's lead to five, 15-10, at the 11:33 mark, but the Jets countered with an 16-4 run to take a 17-point, 31-14 lead with four minutes remaining. The Falcons out-scored the Jets 4-2 over the remaining four minutes of the half, thanks in part to a buzzer-beating jumper, but Newman still held a 33-18 edge after 20 minutes.

Jaray Mathews pushed the lead back out to 17 with a jumper on Newman's first possession of the second half. The Jets were forced to deal with the Falcons' slow style of play, but patience proved to be a virtue as the Jets had pushed the lead to 21, 49-28, by the 10:57 mark when Will Burdette tipped in an errant shot from Terrell Northington. Newman's biggest lead of the night, 59-36, came off a traditional three-point play by Jake Darby at the 5:41 mark. At that point, Newman head coach Mark Potter started clearing the bench with the game well in hand. UTPB tried to sneak back into the game from the free throw line against the Newman reserves, but the damage had been done as Newman held on the for 63-50 win; their fifth-straight win.

Darby led the Jets with 12 points and added three assists and a steal, while Jaray Mathews finished one rebound shy of his third-straight double-double, posting an 11-point, nine-rebound outing. All 15 players that made the trip to Odessa played in the win, and 12 of them scored.

Elijah Jordan led the Falcons with 16 points in the game, while Austin Williams posted a team-high six rebounds to lead UTPB

With the win, the Jets improve to 13-4 this season, and 6-1 in Heartland Conference play. They will look for their conference-best sixth-straight win Saturday night when they travel to Goodwell, Okla., to take on the Oklahoma Panhandle State Aggies. Tip-time in OPSU's Oscar Williams Field House is slated for 4:30 p.m.