FORT SMITH, Ark. – The Newman men's basketball team let a six-point advantage with 1:32 left slip away in a 90-89 loss at UA Fort Smith on Thursday (Jan. 22) at the Stubblefield Center. Reggie Baker scored a career-high 36 points, a Newman NCAA Division II school record, going 8-of-12 from 3-point range.
 
The Jets (8-7, 4-5 Heartland Conference) held an 89-83 advantage at the 1:32 mark after two free throws from senior Jeremy Espinoza. The Lions scored the final seven points, all on free throws, to win, 90-89. UAFS's Dusan Stojanovic hit the game-winning free throw with 3 seconds remaining to get the 90-89 win.
 
UAFS (9-8, 5-4) cut the deficit to four points with 1:26 remaining after two made DaVaunta Thomas free throws. On the Jets' next possession, NU turned the ball over with 54 seconds left. NU fouled 3 seconds later to give the Lions a chance to cut the deficit in half. UAFS's Alex Cooper hit both free throws for an 89-87 score with 51 seconds remaining. The Jets once again turned the ball over when they had possession, giving UAFS the ball with 34 seconds left. A Jet foul put UAFS's Seth Youngblood at the free throw line with an opportunity to tie the score. He hit both shots for an 89-89 tie.  
 
NU looked like they would have the final possession or the game would go into overtime, but another turnover, the Jets' third straight, gave the Lions the ball with 5 seconds left. After a timeout, NU was called for a foul with 3 seconds remaining, and Stojanovic hit the game-winning free throw.
 
The lead was the Lions' first advantage since 59-58 after a Cooper 3 put UAFS up with 13:08 remaining.
 
Baker, a junior guard from Avon Park, Fla., put NU up with a 3-pointer at the 13:20 mark for a 58-56 score.
 
NU held a 78-74 advantage with 5:55 remaining. Kramer Ammons hit a 3-pointer at the 5:49 mark to increase the margin to 81-74. A Baker steal and fastbreak dunk put NU up by nine, 83-74, with 4:37 remaining.
 
Baker finished with 36 points in 36 minutes on 13-of-24 shooting. He went 8-of-12 from 3 and 2-for-3 from the free throw line. The 36 points breaks the old record of 32 points scored by Keaton Schultz on Jan. 23, 2010 at Oklahoma Panhandle State. The junior guard added six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Junior point guard Cortrael Colbert scored 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting and had a game-high six assists. Espinoza had 12 points in 23 minutes, and senior Ryan McCarthy totaled 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
 
The Jets shot 47.8 percent (32-67) from the field, including 60 percent (18-30) in the second half. NU shot 52 percent (13-25) from 3, including 61.5 percent (8-13) in the second half.
 
UAFS had three players scoring more than 20 points. Kenny Martin tallied a team-high 22 points and 16 rebounds. Thomas and Youngblood each scored 21 points. Thomas went 13-for-13 from the free throw line.
 
The Lions shot 41.7 percent (25-60), and only 22.2 percent (4-18) from 3. They held a huge advantage at the free throw line, going 36-47 (76.6 percent). The Jets were 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the free throw line. UAFS held a 45-33 advantage rebounding with 15 offensive rebounds.
 
NU travels to Rogers State on Saturday (Jan. 24) for a 3 p.m. game in Claremore, Okla.