WICHITA - The Newman men's basketball team fought off a late charge by a stingy Texas-Permian Basin squad, and ended its regular season on a high note with a 57-54 win over the Falcons on senior day Saturday afternoon inside Fugate Gymnasium. The win was enough for the Jets to secure the No. 2 seed, and a first-round bye in next week's Heartland Conference championship tournament.

Newman (18-9, 11-5 Heartland) struggled early with Texas-Permian Basin (7-20, 4-12 Heartland)'s slow style of play. It took nearly six minutes for the Jets to score just 10 points, but they finally broke double figures when a Justin Berry lay-up gave Newman a 10-5 lead at the 14:07 mark. The Falcons simply would not go away, and even took a brief 14-13 lead at the 7:59 mark, but the Jets countered with a 14-2 run over the next four minutes, and took their first double-digit lead, 27-15, with 4:09 still to play in the half. The Jets maintained a lead of at least 10 until the final minute of the half when a Mihai Urichainu three-pointer brought the Falcons to within nine, 33-24. From there the Jets held on, and went into the locker room with a 36-27 advantage.

The second half looked like simply an extension of the first Saturday afternoon. It took nearly 10 minutes for the Jets to push their lead back to 14 after an alley-oop from Jarvis Jackson to Jaray Mathews gave Newman a 47-33 advantage. One again, the Falcons found a way to slowly, but surely, sneak back into the game. UTPB quietly completed its comeback at the 3:19 mark, tying the game at 51-51 after a Justin Bailey long ball. That's as far as the Falcons would get though. The Jets forced two-straight turnovers by UTPB, and took a 55-51 lead with 90 seconds left. UTPB came back with a traditional three-point play with 52 seconds left, and snuck to within one. Will Burdette missed a three-point attempt the next time down the floor for Newman, giving UTPB a chance to potentially take the lead. That is exactly what they tried to do. A mid-range Jumper by Austin Williams was blocked by Jaray mathews and rebounded by Burdette with three seconds left. Chip Steven was fouled with the ball in his hands, and hit two free throws to ice the 57-54 win.

Will Burdette led the Jets with 15 points as the only Newman player to post double figures. Jaray Mathews and Keaton Schultz each added five rebounds to pace Newman.

Justin Bailey scored a game-high 21 points to lead UTPB.

With the win, the Jets improve to 18-9 overall, and 11-5 in Heartland Conference play. The win, combined with Incarnate Word's 73-70 win at Dallas Baptist, secures the No. 2 seed for Newman in next week's Heartland Conference Championship tournament. Newman will take on the winner of the St. Marys vs. Texas A&M International game Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Bill Greehey Arena in San Antonio, Texas.