Box Score Liberty, Mo.- The Newman men's basketball team (8-0, 1-0 Heartland) narrowly escaped the Cardinals of William Jewell College 86-84 last Saturday to keep their perfect record alive.  Marquis Cuyler led all scorers with 20 points.

A jumper from Cardinal Dillon Deck at the 19:26 mark gave William Jewell an early lead, but a three-pointer from Marquis Cuyler got the Jets on the board.  Newman took its first lead of the game with 17:33 remaining in the half after a jumper from Bobby Wesley.  The Jets spent the heart of the first half trying to gain more momentum and held a nine point advantage over the Cardinals at the 7:02 mark.  William Jewell battled back in the remaining minutes, but it was the Jets who maintained a narrow 39-38 lead headed into halftime.  

Trae Beck quickly got things rolling with a three-pointer at the 19:50 mark after a steal by Marquis Cuyler.  The Jets continued to hold a steady pace in the opening minutes of the second half and took their largest 11-point lead with 13:47 remaining in the game after a perfect effort from the line by Frankie Drayton.  The Cardinals weren't done yet though and later went on an unanswered seven-point scoring run that got them within one of the Jets at the 6:19 mark. The game continued to remain within a possession for the rest of the game, and a William Jewell jumper tied the score up with ninteen seconds remaining in regulation play. A drained shot from Bobby Wesley with four seconds remaining gave the Jets the final 86-84 victory.

Marquis Cuyler led all scorers with 20 points for the game. Fellow Jets Trae Beck and Shamar Acuay joined him in the double digits with a respective 15 and 10 points.  Cuyler and Richard Waldron both had two steals, and Trae Beck was five-for-nine from behind the arc.

As a team, Newman shot 41.8 percent (28-67) from the floor and 37.5 percent (12-32) from downtown.  The Jets were also 85.7 percent (18-21) from the line.  The Cardinals outrebounded the Jets 43-38.

The Jets return to action on December 15 as they host the undefeated Washburn University men's basketball team currently ranked #2 at 4 p.m. inside Fugate Gymnasium.