Box Score ODESSA, Texas - The Newman men's basketball team remained undefeated in Heartland Conference play with a 68-63 win over Texas-Permian Basin Thursday evening inside the Falcon Dome in Odessa, Texas. Shamar Acuay led all scorers with 18 points off the bench.

Thursday evening's contest started slowly for both teams. Newman (12-4, 4-0 Heartland) held a 6-4 edge when the first media timeout occurred at the 15:56 mark. Head Coach Mark Potter inserted Shamar Acuay into the game at that point, and two minutes later the Jets owned a 12-6 lead after Acuay's triple with 13:40 to play. The Jets extended their lead to 23-13 after an Eric Saunders lay-up with 8:34 to play. Texas-Permian Basin (6-11, 0-5 Heartland) responded with a 9-2 spurt over the next three minutes, and pulled to within three, 25-22, with five minutes remaining, but Connor Walker drained a three to end the threat. Newman led by at least four for the remainder of the first half, and ended the period on a 7-2 spurt to take a 38-28 lead into the halftime break.

The Jets pushed their lead to 11, 42-31, just over three minutes into the second half, and appeared to have the game under control, but Brandon Harrison's lay-up on UTPB's next possession sparked a 15-0 Falcon run that kept Newman off the board for just better than seven minutes of game time. The Falcons held a 46-42 lead with Acuay converted an old-fashioned three-point play that pulled the Jets back to within one, 46-45, with 9:50 remaining, but UTPB wasn't finished. The Falcons pushed their lead to 52-47 after a pair of Ke'Andre Derrick free throws with 8:26 remaining, but three-straight Newman steals led to four points in the next minute, and put a dent in UTPB's momentum. In all, the steals helped spark an 8-0 run that helped the Jets take a three-point, 55-52 lead with 5:27 remaining. UTPB cut the Newman lead to two three times over the next three minutes, and forced a 61-61 tie with 2:10 to play, but the Jets scored the final seven points of the game to take the 68-61 win.

Shamar Acuay led all scorers in Thursday's contest. The junior guard scored 18 points off the bench, and added three steals to his resume for the evening. Eric Saunders finished with 12 points as the only Newman starter in double figures, while Connor Walker drained a pair of treys and hit all four of his free throws on his way to 10 points. Chuck Coley used eight second-half rebounds to lead the Jets with 10 boards, tying UTPB's Erik Martin for high-rebounder honors in the game.

As a team, Newman shot 45.5 percent (25-55) from the field, and 63.2 percent (12-19) from the free throw line, while holding UTPB to a 37.9 percent (22-58) shooting effort. The Falcons out-rebounded the Jets 43-30 in the contest.

With the win, the Jets improve to 12-4 on the season, and 4-0 in Heartland Conference play. Next up is a trip to Austin, Texas, to take on the St. Edward's Hilltoppers on Saturday. Tip-time is slated for 12 p.m. inside the SEU Recreation & Convocation Center.