LAREDO, Texas — Putting together another special effort for the top team in the Heartland Conference, the Newman men's basketball team wasn't able to find a way to earn the season sweep against Texas A&M International, falling 83-78 in double overtime Thursday night.
KEY SEQUENCE
After successfully charging back from a 12-point hole with 8:31 left in regulation, then tying things up again in the first overtime, the Jets (11-8, 4-7 Heartland) couldn't hold off the Dustdevils (14-5, 9-2 Heartland) in the second extra session, as the hosts hit a 3-pointer to start it off, fought off when Newman went up 78-77, and hit just enough free throws to hold off a second straight challenge from the Jets.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-James Pegues and Gavin Thurman kept Newman right with the Dustdevils early. After back-to-back baskets from TAMIU gave them the lead, Christian DeYoung buried 3-pointers on two straight possessions to put the Jets up 13-9 at the 12:02 mark of the opening half.
-A Taylor Schieber layup off a Jalen Love feed temporarily gave Newman the lead once again at 15-13 as the first half neared its midway point, but the Dustdevils would find their stride, going 5-of-5 from the floor and 4-of-5 from the line over the next four-plus minutes to go up 27-15.
-Schieber ended a nearly five-minute scoring drought with another layup that brought the deficit back to 10 with 5:54 to go, and that started an 8-2 run that was capped off with two free throws from Pegues and four from Thurman to cut it to 29-23 with just under three minutes to go in the half. The Dustdevils broke off an 8-2 run from that point to shoot the lead into double digits.
-Down 10 at the break, a Love 3-pointer cut the lead back to seven for the Jets at 37-30. After a TAMIU basket, back-to-back buckets from Cortrael Colbert and Schieber made it 39-34, and a big three-point play from Pegues after a Dustdevil free throw cut the Newman deficit to 40-37 with 15:48 left to play.
-Over the next four minutes, the hosts ran off an 8-1 run before Colbert hit a jumper to halt the momentum and cut the lead back to 10 at 50-40 at the 10:14 mark. From that point, the two sides each answered one another, with Pegues finishing a layup to bring it back to a 10-point margin, and two free throws from the senior doing the same thing with just under nine minutes to play.
-Love's pair of free throws once again took the TAMIU lead from 12 to 10, at 56-46 with 8:15 to go, but this time Colbert kept the momentum in the Jets' favor, drilling a 3-pointer off a feed from Love to make it a seven-point game. Free throws and then a layup from Thurman cut that lead to five each time, the last coming at 58-53 with 5:16 left.
-Layups from Love and Pegues 40 seconds apart pulled the guests to within four points at 61-57 just before the final media timeout. A Colbert bucket made it 63-59, and two freebies from Pegues drew the Jets to 65-61. Schieber sank a pair of free throws with just under a minute left to make it a one-possession game with a minute left for the first time in nearly 15 minutes.
-A Thurman rebound off a TAMIU free throw miss started the break up the court for the Jets, who got the ball to Love in time for the senior to bury the game-tying 3-pointer and send it to overtime. Free throws from Colbert in the final minute of the first extra session tied things at 72-all, and Love couldn't recreate his last-second 3-pointer a second time, sending the game to the second bonus period, where the Dustdevils were able to hold on.
NOTES
-The Jets are now 13-11 in overtime games since moving to Division II. That mark includes a 4-10 record against Heartland Conference foes in that span after fall for a sixth straight time in bonus time against a league opponent, including the conference tournament. The last Heartland team Newman defeated in overtime was St. Edward's, besting the Hilltoppers 90-88 on Jan. 21, 2012.
-Newman was 35-of-42 from the free throw line, their most attempts and makes since going 35-of-49 last season against Oklahoma Panhandle State. The Jets twice made 35 from the charity stripe last season, but have not made more since going 37-of-53 against Incarnate Word during the 2007-08 season.
-Pegues led the way with a huge 19-point, 14-rebound double-double. It was the senior's second double-double of the year, set a new career-high in boards and a new individual game high this season for the Jets. His 19 points, bolstered by an 11-of-13 performance at the line, was his most since netting 21 in the first conference game of the season at St. Edward's.
-Four others scored in double figures, with Thurman going a perfect 10-of-10 at the line to put up 14 points to go with nine rebounds. Schieber added 13 points, as did Colbert, who was one of two Jets to shoot 50 percent from the field, going 5-of-10. Love tallied 10 points and led the way with six assists and two steals.
-The Jets were 22-of-24 from the free throw line in the second half and the two overtime sessions. They scored 13 points off of eight TAMIU turnovers, and got 27 points off the bench.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets finish their last trip to Texas with a short trek to San Antonio to face off against St. Mary's in a 3 p.m. tipoff Saturday.
