WICHITA – The Newman men's basketball team hit the century mark for the third time this season, cruising by Oklahoma Christian, 100-76, on Thursday (Feb. 12) at Fugate Gymnasium. The Jets moved to 12-9 and 8-7 in the Heartland Conference, two games out of first place.
 
The Eagles scored the first four points to gain an early 4-0 advantage. However, the Jets responded to go up 9-6 on a Reggie Baker 3. NU pulled out to a 15-8 lead with 13:48 remaining after Baker free throws.
 
With the lead down to one at 17-16 with 11:15 left in the half, NU went on a 10-0 run to gain a 27-16 lead with 8:29 left in the half. The spurt included a Jeremy Espinoza dunk and his layup put the Jets up by the 27-16 margin. The Jets pushed the lead to 51-34 at halftime.
 
In the second stanza, it was all Newman as the Jets led by 20 or more for most of the 20 minutes. The largest advantage of the game was 25 points at 63-38 after a Ryan McCarthy jumper with 17:10 left.
 
Baker, a junior guard from Avon Park, Fla., totaled a game-high 30 points, his sixth game with 30 or more points this season. He finished going 10-of-21 from the field and hit six 3-pointers. He added a game-high four steals. A total of six Jets were in double figures. Espinoza added 13 points and seven rebounds in only 20 minutes. Cortrael Colbert finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists. James Pegues tallied 11 points and five rebounds. McCarthy and Luka Vermezovic each scored 10 points.
 
The Jets shot 47.6 percent (39-82) from the field and hit 13 3s, going 13-of-37 for 35.1 percent. NU committed only five turnovers and got 14 steals.
 
OC finished at 48.3 percent (28-58), but had 19 turnovers. The Eagles shot 30.8 percent (4-13) from 3.
 
John Moon totaled 24 points of 11-of-15 shooting. He added eight rebounds and two blocks.
 
NU is back in action on Saturday (Feb. 14) at Dallas Baptist in Dallas, Texas. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m.