Box Score Wichita, Kan. – The Jets overcame early offensive struggles with a late rally to down the Rattlers of St. Mary's 63-60 Saturday night inside Fugate Gymnasium.  Shamar Acuay led the charge for the Jets with 20 points in the win, ten of which came in the last four minutes of the game to lead the comeback effort.

Marquis Cuyler opened the game by draining a shot from downtown, but from that point on the Newman offense struggled to find the basket, and Cuyler's three marked the only points on the board for the Jets five minutes later as they trailed 11-3.  A jumper from Ryan McCarthy at the 14:47 mark ended the scoring drought, and the Jets would go on a run to pull within two with seven minutes remaining.   The Rattlers responded with six straight points to widen their lead once again, and the scoring was mostly back-and-forth action for the rest of the half as the Jets went into halftime trailing St. Mary's 30-23. 

The scoring woes continued for the Jets early in the second half, as the Rattlers continued to pile on the points, coming out of halftime on a 12-5 run to extend their lead to 14 points with 14:40 to play.  A three-pointer from Acuay and a jumper from McCarthy shaved five points off the Rattler lead, but consecutive layups from Kevin Kotzur, who led all scorers with 23 points in the game, pushed the score to 49-35 with 11 minutes left.  The next eight minutes saw the teams match each other shot-for-shot, and with the Jets trailing 57-47 at the 3:37 mark St. Mary's appeared to have put the game away.  Newman's offense finally found the spark it needed in the form of Acuay, who ignited the Jet offense with ten points behind a clutch 8-for-8 performance at the charity stripe in the game's final minutes.  Marquis Cuyler added a three-point trey to contribute to the 13-0 run, which put the Jets up 60-57 with 8 seconds remaining.  After St. Mary's Christian Bower converted two free throws to cut the lead to one, Cuyler answered with two free throws of his own, and Darrell Traylor added another free throw with one second remaining to seal the comeback for the Jets. 

Shamar Acuay led the Jets with 20 points in the game, including 2-for-2 from downtown and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line.  Darrell Traylor added 14 points and seven boards in the win, and Marquis Cuyler added 12 points behind a 4-for-9 effort from the floor.

As a team, the Jets shot 32.8 percent (19 of 58) from the field, but it was a clutch second half performance that made the difference in the game, with the Jets shooting 43 percent from the floor and 42 percent from long range in the second half.  Newman shot 81.8 percent (18-for-22) from the charity stripe. 

With the victory, the Jets improve to 13-1 on the season (4-0 Heartland).  For their next game they will travel to Goodwell, Okla. to take on Oklahoma Panhandle State University in another Heartland Conference tilt.  Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17.