WICHITA - A career-shattering night from Chip Steven fueled the Newman men's basketball team to its fourth-straight win, as the Jets defeated St. Mary's 94-82 Monday evening inside Newman's Fugate Gymnasium. Steven drained six treys in the contest en route to a 28-point, seven-rebound finish in the contest.

The game started off on a slow note. Will Burdette was fouled on his first shot attempt of the game, and hit one of his two free throws to give Newman (14-9, 6-3 Heartland) an early 1-0 advantage. St. Mary's (13-10, 6-4 Heartland) answered with a Gordon Ward trey to take a 3-1 lead on the following possession before the two teams took turns exchanging leads. A Tyler Nordman triple at the 15:27 mark broke a 12-12 lead, and sparked a 10-3 run that, capped by an Eric Saunders lay-up that gave the Jets a 22-15 lead with 9:53 to play in the opening half. Newman extended that lead to as many as 20 by the 5:11 mark when a pair of Mason Felter free throws capped a 17-7 run that gave the Jets a 39-19 lead. The Rattlers cut Newman's lead to 16 on two separate occasions in the final five minutes of the half, but after 20 minutes of play Newman held a 45-27 lead.

Newman picked up where it left off in the second half. A Keaton Schultz trey, followed by a steal and lay-up from Eric Saunders pushed Newman's lead to 50-27 in the first 30 seconds of the second half. St Mary's responded with a 6-0 spurt over the next three minutes, but a Chip Steven trey pushed Newman's lead back to 20 with 15:35 still to play. The Rattlers kept the margin at 20 or less for the next five minutes, cutting the margin to 15 after a D.J. Castro trey at the 13:13 mark, but a 7-1 run, capped by an Eric Saunders lay-up gave Newman its largest lead of the game, a 26-point, 74-48 margin with 8:21 still to play. The Jets achieved that 26-point lead three times over the next four minutes, the final of which prompted Head Coach Mark Potter to empty his bench with 4:12 to play. That was when the Rattlers struck. A Keith Hartle jumper sparked a 14-0 Rattler run over the next two minutes that drew St. Mary's to within 12, 85-73, with 1:45 to play. Potter put his starters back in as a damage control measure for the next two minutes. A Kevin Kotzur lay-up in the final 30 seconds drew St. Mary's to within nine, 89-80, but five free throws in the final 30 seconds helped push Newman's lead back to double figures, and the Jets escaped with the 94-82 win.

Chip Steven made his final home game as a Jet a memorable one. The senior drained six three-pointers, and added eight free throws on his way to a career-high 28 points, and added a career-high seven rebounds for good measure. Those marks shattered his previous point total of 19 pionts, set last Monday in a win over Arkansas-Fort Smith, and tied his career-high rebounding mark, which was set last season.

Keaton Schultz and Eric Saunders also finished in double figures for the Jets. Schultz hit four treys and added five free throws en route to a 17-point outing, while Saunders finished with 12 points.

Kevin Kotzur led all scorers with 29 points and 10 rebounds.

With the win, the Jets improve to 14-9 overall, and 6-3 in Heartland Conference play. Newman will hit the road for its final three games, starting with a Thursday trip to Austin to take on the St. Edward's Hilltoppers. Tip-time inside SEU's Recreation & Convocation Center is slated for 8 p.m.