WICHITA, Kan. — Shrugging off a cold shooting night, the Newman men's basketball team ran their streak to two games in a row and four of the last five to push ahead of .500 in Heartland Conference play with a 72-63 win over Oklahoma Christian Thursday night at Fugate Gymnasium.
KEY SEQUENCE
Sudden up by just three points at 55-52 with 4:40 to play after leading by double digits a few minutes earlier, the Jets (11-4, 4-3 Heartland) saw junior Jarvis Williams pop a 3-pointer and senior Jalen Love do the same 30 seconds later around a basket from the Eagles (4-1, 1-6 Heartland) to suddenly be up by seven. Senior Gavin Thurman made it a nine-point lead shortly thereafter with a pair of free throws.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-An uncharacteristic slow start hampered the Jets, who took over four minutes to score. That first bucket was a memorable one though, as senior Cortrael Colbert fed classmate James Pegues the alley-oop to put the hosts on the board despite still trailing 6-2.
-The first 3-pointer of the night from Williams cut the Eagle lead down to one for the second time, this time at 11-10 with 9:32 to play in the opening half. When Pegues pocketed a layup over a minute later, it gave Newman a 12-11 lead, and the hosts would not trail again in the game.
-Those five points from the Jets were the start of a 10-0 run that was capped by a Thurman 3-pointer to make it 17-11 with 6:17 on the clock. Another trey from Thurman made it 20-13 less than 30 seconds later.
-Although OC was able to tie things up at 23-all with 2:34 to go, a free throw from junior Travis Matthews right at the 2-minute mark gave the Jets a lead they wouldn't give up again.
-With things hovering at a two-point lead for Newman just under three minutes into the second half, Thurman started off a 9-0 spurt with two midrange jumpers, followed by a steal and fastbreak finish from Colbert and another 3-ball out of Williams to make it 40-29 with 14:26 to go.
-That lead kept climbing, reaching 16 after a three-point play from junior Taylor Schieber and again at 53-37 after a finish by junior Daniel Nwosu, but from that point, the Eagles scored 11 straight and 15 of the next 17 points to suddenly make it a three-point game.
-The big 3-pointers from Williams and Love came just 46 seconds apart, and although OC would threaten, getting to within six points on two different occasions in the final three minutes, the Jets sank 7-of-11 free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
NOTES
-Thurman put up 19 points on the night, his ninth straight game reaching double figures, and netted 11 of those 19 in the second half, including his entire 7-of-8 night from the line. The senior also pulled in a game-high 10 rebounds to pick up his second double-double of the season.
-Pegues and Williams each scored 12 points, with Nwosu adding 11. Pegues chipped in with eight rebounds, an assist and a steal, while Williams dished out a game-high five assists to match his season high.
-His 12-point effort was the fourth time in the past five games that Williams has posted double-digit points, averaging 11.4 ppg over those five contests. He also went 3-of-6 from 3-point range, his fourth time in those five games that he's shot at least 44.4 percent from deep, with at least three attempts per game.
-While the 72 points the Jets scored hovers just below the NCAA average per game, it was Newman's second-lowest scoring output in 15 games this season, as was its 38.1-percent shooting percentage. The Jets made up for this by committing just five turnovers — their lowest total of the season — off which the Eagles netted just two points.
-Newman committed just one turnover in the second half as it held on to its lead, and its shooting was affected by an 0-for-6 slump to start the game. Over the final 36-plus minutes of the game, the Jets shot a manageable 42.1 percent.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets make the trek south to face Dallas Baptist Monday evening to start a three-game week that finishes up back at home.
