Box Score

WICHITA – The Newman men's basketball team cruised by Texas-Permian Basin, 80-62, on Saturday (Feb. 16) afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets kept pace with Arkansas-Fort Smith as both teams are still tied atop the Heartland Conference standings at 9-3. UAFS defeated OPSU today, 92-50. The two league leaders meet next Saturday (Feb. 23) at Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets overall are 19-4.
 
The Jets took control early, scoring the first eight points to go up 8-0 at the 17:43 mark on a Bobby Wesley 3. A Ryan McCarthy 3 with 7:25 left made it 23-13 Jets, and NU never let the lead get under double digits for the rest of the game. The Jets led 36-22 at halftime.
 
Newman continued to roll in the second half and was never challenged by the Falcons. The Jets pushed the margin to as high as 26 points at 80-54 with 2:44 remaining. NU cruised to the 80-62 win.
 
Trae Beck was hot from 3-point range, hitting 4-of-5 treys on his way to a game-high 15 points. Frankie Drayton added 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. All 15 Jets played with 12 scoring points. For the game, NU shot 48.1 percent (25-52), including 11-of-22 from 3-point range.
 
The Jet defense kept UTPB to 34.5 percent (19-55) shooting, including 28.6 percent (8-28) in the first half. The Falcons were just 1-of-11 from 3. The Falcons also struggled from the free throw line, going 23-of-40 (57.5 percent) for the game.
 
The Jets welcome Arkansas-Fort Smith to Fugate Gymnasium next Saturday (Feb. 16) for a 4 p.m. tilt. Both teams will come into the game tied atop the Heartland Conference with 9-3 records.