Box Score WICHITA- The Newman men's basketball team snapped a four-game losing streak on Thursday night, defeating St. Edward's, 69-55 inside Fugate Gymnasium. Eric Saunders led the Jets with 18 points.

The first half started off with a bang, as Shimeek Johnson and Chuck Coley both threw down dunks in the first 30 seconds of play. Newman (16-8, 8-4 Heartland) maintained an 8-4 lead at the 17:19 mark, before a Coley three-pointer gave the Jets an 11-6 lead with 16:16 left in the half. Neither team could pull away from one another for the majority of the period, until an Eric Saunders three-ball paced a 9-2 Jet run to give Newman a 25-14 lead at the 7:04 mark. Three-straight points by Josh Pleasant pushed the Jet lead to 30-15 with 4:23 remaining in the half. Shimeek Johnson converted a lay-up for St. Edward's (10-14, 2-10 Heartland) with three-seconds left to play, but Newman  took a 35-23 lead going into intermission.

The second half saw the same fireworks as the first, when Chuck Coley scored the first points of the half for the Jets on a two-handed flush at the 19:49 mark. A Chris Wacker lay-up ignited a 10-2 Hilltopper run, to cut the deficit to 39-33 with 15:39 left in regulation. Following a three-minute drought by both teams, Shamar Acuay took matters into his own hands, converting two-consecutive baskets to increase the lead to 43-33 with 12:25 on the game clock. St. Edward's trimmed the deficit to 45-39 following a Shimeek Johnson free-throw and a Zilijan Jones three-pointer at the 10:34 mark, but they would never cut the lead any closer, as the Jets cruised to the 69-55 victory.

Saunders was joined in double-figures by 14-point outings from Chuck Coley and Shamar Acuay. As a team, Newman shot 47 percent (27-58) from the field, and connected on 33 percent (3-9) from three-point land. The Jets out-rebounded the Hilltoppers 33-24, while swatting away seven St. Edward's shot attempts.

With the victory, Newman moves to 16-8 on the season, and an 8-4 record in Heartland Conference play. The Jets return to action on Saturday when the Falcons of Texas-Permian Basin visit Fugate Gymansium. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.