PITTSBURG, Kan. – The Newman men's basketball team fell behind, 35-30, at Pittsburg State and couldn't recover, falling 82-66 on Tuesday (Dec. 2) at John Lance Arena. The Jets finish their four-game stretch against MIAA opponents at 2-2.
 
The Gorillas scored with a 10-2 run in the first 3:12 of the game, highlighted by two dunks. The margin grew to 15 points at 33-18 with 1:39. The PSU advantage was 15 points at halftime at 35-20.
 
The Jets struggled shooting in the first half, hitting 21.4 percent (6-28) from the field. Reggie Baker totaled half of those points with 10 points and four of the six made field goals. NU went just 2-of-13 from 3-point range.
 
PSU hit eight of their first 10 shots and finished at 46.7 percent (14-30) in the first half. They held a 24-15 edge in rebounding.
 
In the second half, the game was evenly matched with PSU holding a 47-46 edge in scoring. The Jets shot 54.8 percent (17-31) in the second half and 5-for-12 from 3. PSU went 17-of-24 for 70.8 percent in the second half.
 
Reggie Baker scored a game-high 20 points, going 8-of-15 from the field. He added three assists. Jeremy Espinoza added 15 points in 37 minutes. Cortrael Colbert also hit double figures with 10 points and a team-high six assists. Easton Julian went 3-for-3 from 3 for a career-high nine points.  
 
Lamine Dieng poured in 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. He was one rebound from a double-double with a game-high 9 boards.
 
For the game, PSU went 57.4 percent (31-54) from the field. After struggling in the first half, NU shot 39.0 percent (23-59) for the game. The Gorillas outrebounded the Jets by 21 at 43-22. NU committed 14 turnovers, and forced PSU into 25 turnovers.
 
The Jets return home for four straight games. NU hosts Manhattan Christian on Saturday (Dec. 6) at 3 p.m. inside Fugate Gymnasium. Video and live stats will be available.