WICHITA - A low-scoring first-half affair turned into an offensive showcase as the Newman men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing skid with a 78-71 win over the Texas-Permian Basin Falcons Thursday evening inside Fugate Gymnasium. Will Burdette led the Jets with 15 points in the win.

It took a combined six possessions before either team could figure out how to remove the lid from the baskets in Thursday night's game, and even when they did devise a solution, offense came at a premium in the first half. Texas-Permian Basin (8-9, 2-2 Heartland) jumped out to an early 7-4 lead at the 17:15 mark before both teams went dry. A Will Burdette three-pointer broke a three-minute scoreless draught, but started another that lasted just shy of three minutes when a Kyle Grant lay-up gave the Jets a 9-7 lead with 11:43 to play in the first half. Exactly seven game-minutes after their last field goal, the Falcons finally scored, knotting the game at 9-9 after a Ke'Andre Derrick lay-up with 10:15 remaining in the opening period. Newman (8-8, 1-2 Heartland) finally broke the double-digit plateau when Eric Saunders drained a jumper with 8:22 to play. The two teams exchanged baskets for the next two minutes, but Newman ended the first half on a 15-6 run, and took a 26-19 lead into halftime.

Both coaches must have given their teams advice on how better to score the basketball. Newman opened second half play on a 7-2 run and took a 33-21 lead after a Chip Steven triple with 17:41 to play. That was Newman's largest lead of the night as the visiting Falcons simply refused to die. By the 10:40 mark, UTPB had narrowed the Newman gap to two, 41-39, after a Derrick lay-up. Five minutes later a pair of Dwayne Soders free throws cut the Newman lead to one, 50-49, but the Falcons simply couldn't seal the deal as the game turned into a free throw contest. Over the final four minutes the two teams combined to shoot 30 free throws, 20 of which belonged to Newman. Fortunately for the Jets, their free throws were falling. Newman converted on 26 of its 27 free throw attempts on the game for a season-high 96.3 percent from the charity stripe, while the Falcons hit 15 of their 21 attempts. Those free throws allowed the Jets to pull away for the 78-71 win.

Will Burdette hit all six of his free throws, and put an exclamation point on the win with a dunk at the buzzer en route to a team-high 15 points while adding six rebounds in the win. Keaton Schultz and Tyler Nordman each added 12 points, while Chip Steven and Eric Saunders added 11 points to round out Newman's double-digit scorers.

Erik Martin scored 15 points to lead Texas-Permian Basin.

With the win, the Jets improve to 8-8 on the season, and 1-2 in Heartland Conference play. They will return to action Saturday, hosting the St. Edward's Hilltoppers in a 3 p.m. contest inside Fugate Gymnasium.