BARTLESVILLE, Okla. - Keaton Schultz dumped in 19 points, and was one of five Jets to post double-digit scoring efforts as the Newman men's basketball team opened its 2010-11 regular season with a 91-78 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State in the second game of the South Central Shootout at Bartlesville. Schultz added six rebounds and four assists in the win.
After exchanging buckets through the first three minutes of the game, Newman (1-0) turned a one-point, 7-6 lead into a 12-6 lead in just over a minute when a Chip Steven three-pointer capped a six-point spurt by the Jets. Bobby Wesley was on his way to giving the Jets at least a 14-6 lead at the 16:10 mark when his knee buckled in the paint. Wesley fell to the ground and did not return to the game.
Southwestern Oklahoma State (0-1) cut the Newman lead to 12-9 with a Jamere King three-ball at the 15:03 mark, but the Bulldogs did not score again until the 12:00 mark when Leon Nelson snapped a streak of five-straight Jet points with a lay-up that pulled SWOSU to within six, 17-11.
The Jets took their first 10-point lead of the night when a Tommy Brumbelow lay-up gave Newman a 21-10 lead with 11:08 to play. Over the course of the next 10 minutes, however, SWOSU chipped away at the Newman lead. The Bulldogs took a 35-34 lead at the 1:41 mark on a Greg Richardson lay-up, and held a one-point, 41-40 lead at halftime.
The Bulldogs extended that lead to four points on three different occasions through the first five minutes of Friday's contest, but Newman never let the SWOSU lead increase past four points. A Kyle Grant lay-up with 7:04 to play allowed Newman to regain the lead at 64-63, but the Jets never led by more than six points for the remainder of the game. The Jets scored their last point of regulation on a Saunders free throw with 2:30 remaining that gave Newman a 74-70 lead, but the Bulldogs ended the game on a 4-0 run, and Jeremy Lay's Bulldog buzzer beater was off the mark to send the game to overtime.
Southwestern Oklahoma State was only in contention for the first three minutes of the overtime period. A Nelson lay-up gave the Bulldogs a 78-76 lead with 3:22 remaining, but the Jets ended the game on a 13-0 lead to pick up their first regular-season win of 2010 with a 91-78 win.
Senior Keaton Schultz hit seven of his eight free throws, and went five-for-seven from the field on his way to a team-high 19 points in the win. Fellow senior Justin Berry added 15 points behind a seven-for-13 effort from the field, while senior William Burdette dumped in 14. Chip Steven and Eric Saunders rounded out Newman's double-digit scorers with 13 points each. Schultz, Steven, and Kyle Grant each grabbed six rebounds to lead the Jets.
Leon Nelson scored 20 points to lead all Bulldog scorers.
With the win, the Jets improve to 1-0. They will return to action Saturday, taking on West Texas A&M in a 1 p.m. contest in Game 4 of the South Central Shootout at Bartlesville.
