OKLAHOMA CITY – The Newman men's basketball team used a strong second half to erase a first-half deficit and get an 81-79 win over Cameron on Friday (Nov. 13) at the Eagles' Nest at Oklahoma Christian University in game one of the Heartland-Lone Star Challenge. With the win, NU moved to 1-0 on the season.
 
Senior newcomer Gavin Thurman put the Jets up two at 76-74 with 37 seconds remaining on a 3-pointer. The Jet defense got a stop, and senior James Pegues put NU up two possessions with two free throws with 12 seconds left. After a Cameron basket, Pegues again went 2-for-2 from the line for an 80-76 edge with 7 seconds remaining. The Aggies hit a 3 with 4 seconds left, but ran out of time as senior Jalen Love put NU up by the 81-79 score on a free throw with 1 second left.
 
NU trailed by 17 points early in the second half by the score of 51-34. With the score 66-55 in favor of CU with 11:05 left, NU went on a 14-2 run to gain a 69-68 lead at the 4:56 mark. Daniel Nwosu started the spurt with a free throw. A Love three-point play with 9:11 left made the score 66-59. Two baskets by Pegues and a jumper from Nwosu cut the deficit to 68-65 with 7:37 left. Love scored back-to-back jumpers to give NU the 69-68 advantage. The score went back and forth before the Thurman 3 with 37 seconds remaining.
 
In the second half, the Jets outscored the Aggies, 47-31. CU had a 48-34 lead at halftime.
 
Pegues scored a team-high 20 points, going 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Love added 19 points. Thurman finished with 14 points, including four 3s. Jarvis Williams hit double figures with 10 points.
 
For the game, NU shot 40.6 percent (28-69). The Jets hit 11-of-28 3s for 39.3 percent. They shot 70 percent (14-20) from the free throw line.
 
The defense forced 22 turnovers and got 13 steals. Pegues, Cortrael Colbert and Daniel Nwosu all had three steals.
 
Cameron's Jamaal Brantley totaled a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Deondre Ray added 17 points. The Aggies shot 54.8 percent (34-62) from the field and held a 47-30 advantage in rebounding.
 
The Jets play again tomorrow (Nov. 14) against Texas A&M-Commerce at 5:30 p.m. at the Eagles' Nest in Oklahoma City. Live stats will be available.