WICHITA – The Newman men's basketball's quest to defeat all other NCAA Division II schools in Kansas ended on Tuesday (Nov. 25) when the Jets lost, 82-75, to Fort Hays State at Fugate Gymnasium. With the loss, NU fell to 2-1 on the season after its wins over Emporia State and Washburn.
 
Junior guard Reggie Baker scored a game-high 30 points, his second consecutive 30-point performance, and pulled down 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
 
After a three-quarter court heave gave FHSU a halftime advantage of 41-39, the Tigers carried the momentum into the second half, scoring consecutive layups for a 45-39 lead early in the second half. A 9-2 spurt allowed the Jets to take a 48-47 advantage with 16:28 left. Baker started the run with a jumper at the 18:41 mark, and Cortrael Colbert converted a three-point play at the 17:34 mark for a 45-44 score.  After a FHSU basket, James Pegues put in a layup and after a FHSU turnover, Baker hit a jumper with 16:28 left, and the Jets gained a 48-47 edge.
 
The Tigers scored five straight points for a 52-48 advantage after a 3-pointer from Achoki Moikobu at the 15:01 mark. The Jets never regained the lead after the quick 5-0 FHSU run.
 
With NU trailing only two points at 56-54, FHSU's Royce Williams converted a three-point play of his own to push the Tiger lead to 59-54 with 11:17 left. The Jets shot free throws on their next two possessions, but missed the second shot on both attempts to only trail at 59-56. After a missed 3 from the Jets, FHSU scored on a layup for a 61-56 score. Baker was fouled and had free throws at the 9:27 mark, but he converted 1-of-2 to make it three straight times the Jets missed the second free throw. NU was behind, 61-57.
 
FHSU's Craig Nicholson hit a 3-pointer with 8:53 to go to increase the Tiger advantage back to seven at 64-57. Freshman Kramer Ammons responded with a triple of his own to close the margin back to four at 64-60.
 
 The Tigers pulled out to a 10-point lead with a quick 6-0 spurt for a 70-60 FHSU advantage at the 6:29 mark. The Jets came up empty on their two possessions during the stretch, missing two layups.
 
NU didn't go away; getting the deficit to five points after a Jeremy Espinoza 3 made it 72-67 with 4:30 remaining.
 
FHSU hit 3-of-4 free throws to increase the margin to 75-67 with 3:37 left. The Jets couldn't get closer than six points the rest of the way, and the Tigers hung on for the 82-75 win.
 
In the first half, the Tigers went up 10-6 early, however, the Jets went on a 14-2 run to gain a 20-12 advantage after a Pegues layup at the 12:29 mark. NU continued to hold the lead and was up 25-16 with 10:09 left in the half.
 
FHSU followed with a run of their own at 12-3 to tie the score at 28-28 at the 3:51 mark. The Jets appeared to gain the lead right before halftime with a Baker 3 with 3 seconds left; however, Moikobu hit a long 3 right before the half for a 41-39 FHSU lead.
 
Baker finished 11-of-24 from the field and 6-of-8 from the free throw line. He pulled down 10 rebounds, including four offensive rebounds for the double-double of 30 points and 10 rebounds. James Pegues added 13 points, and Jeremy Espinoza hit double figures with 10 points.
 
The Jets struggled from the field in the second half, hitting 12-of-34 shots for 35.3 percent and only went 2-for-11 (18.2 percent) from 3. For the game, NU shot 39 percent (23-59) from the field. They went 6-of-21 (28.6 percent) from 3. NU got to the free throw line 29 times, making 23 for 79.3 percent.
 
The Jets play their first road game next Tuesday (Dec. 2) at Pittsburg State in Pittsburg, Kan. It's the final game of four straight Kansas Division II MIAA opponents to start the season.