WICHITA - The largest Fugate Gymnasium crowd of the season wasn't enough to help lift the Newman men's basketball team past Incarnate Word, as the Cardinals handed the Jets their first Heartland Cofnerence home loss of the season, 71-65, Saturday night in Wichita. Jaray Mathews led the Jets with a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double, and did so in front of a season-best 813 fans.

After both teams combined to miss their first nine shots, reigning Heartland Conference Player of the Year Pierce Caldwell put Incarnate Word (14-6, 7-3 Heartland) on the board with a jumper that gave the Cardinals a 2-0 edge at the 16:45 mark. Newman (15-5, 8-2 Heartland) was held scoreless until the 15:17 mark, when Terrell Northington put the Jets on the board with a mid-range jumper. UIW pushed their lead to four, 6-2, at the 15:08 mark, but Newman was up to the task, rallying to tie the game at 6-6 by the 14:22 mark. The Jets could never take the lead, however, and Incarnate Word used a 15-5 run over the next six minutes to take a 23-11 lead after a Kelcey Solomon jumper. Newman used a 12-2 run of its own to draw within two, 25-23, at the 5:00 mark, only to watch the Cardinals counter with 10-straight points to push the lead back to 12, 35-23. At halftime, the Jets found themselves on the short end of a 38-31 score.

Newman opened the second half on a 13-5 run, capped by a Chip Steven trey that gave the Jets a brief lead, 44-43, at the 15:48 mark, but Caldwell responded on the other end with a trey of his own to hand the lead back to the Cardinals. It was that kind of night for the hosts. The Jets were within one on three separate occasions throughout the course of the second half, but couldn't find the shot they needed. Newman's best chance to steal the game came at the 1:49 mark. A lay-up by Jaray Mathews pulled the Jets to within one, 64-63, and brought a nearly-sold out Fugate Gymnasium crowd to its feet, but once again Caldwell played the roll of giant killer, and hit a lay-up to give his team the lead for good. Newman was limited to free throws only throughout the remainder of the game, as the Cardinals escaped Wichita with the 71-65 win.

Mathews finished with a team-high 13 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Jets, who closed out the month of January the same way it started, losing to UIW. Chip Steven added 12 points as the only other Jet to post double figures in the game. Keaton Schultz couldn't find his rhythm either, going one-for-five from long range to finish with seven points.

With the loss, the Jets fall to 15-5 overall, and 8-2 in Heartland Conference play, but remain atop the Heartland Conference standings thanks to UIW's loss at Lincoln Thursday night. Newman will look to rebound Thursday night when they travel to Laredo, Texas, to take on the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International. Tip-off at TAMIU's Kineisiology Building is slated for 8 p.m.