GOODWELL, Okla. — Offense returned with a bang for the Newman men's basketball team, which was clicking on all cylinders to put six players into double figures and jump back in the win column with a 114-80 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State in Heartland Conference play Saturday afternoon.
KEY SEQUENCE
The Jets (10-4, 3-3 Heartland) broke a 0-0 tie just 32 seconds in and led the rest of the way, and three separate runs stole any momentum the Aggies (8-6, 1-5 Heartland) may have been gaining. The first was a 13-2 sprint after the hosts pulled it to within five points in the first half, and a seven-point run to start the second half bumped the lead over 20 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-For the second straight game, the Jets got going right from the opening tip, as junior Jarvis Williams and senior Jalen Love hit two consecutive 3-pointers and senior Gavin Thurman followed with a layup to make it 8-0 just over two minutes into the game.
-The Aggies got right back into the game, scoring eight of the next 11 points, but Love hit a pair of layups off Thurman feeds within 16 seconds of each other to stretch the lead back out to 15-8.
-A 3-pointer from junior Taylor Schieber off a feed from junior Daniel Nwosu cut off an OPSU run to push the lead to 20-15 as the Jets held on to their lead, and free throws from senior James Pegues followed by a layup out of senior Cortrael Colbert stretched the advantage to 28-22 with 9:40 to go in the half.
-Thurman netted five points in 25 seconds, the last two coming on a fastbreak dunk started by a Williams steal to make it 33-25 just 1:20 later. The run kickstarted an impressive stretch to end the first half that took the game from one possession to a double-digit lead.
-With the lead back down to five with just over five minutes to go in the half, Newman sprinted out on a 13-2 run, bolstered by five points out of Schieber and six from Nwosu, to make it a 16-point game at 51-35 with 2:45 to go before the half. A Thurman jumper made it 55-41 heading into the break.
-Williams started the second half the same way he did the first, sinking a 3-pointer to start a 10-2 run to come out of the locker room.
-The Aggies cut the lead to 19 at four different points in the half, but were never able to get any closer. A layup from Love bumped the margin back to 21 after the final time OPSU rallied, and that was the beginning of a 14-2 burst from the Jets that pushed the lead into the 30s.
NOTES
-The Jets hit triple digits on the scoreboard for the first time since last February in a 100-76 win over Oklahoma Christian, the first 100-point game on the road since topping OPSU 100-96 late in the 2013-14 season, and the most points in a game since a 119-68 win over York College on Dec. 13, 2008.
-The 114 points is also the most scored by a Heartland Conference team in league play this season, and the most in a conference contest since Incarnate Word netted 115 against Lincoln on Jan. 4, 2010.
-As expected, Newman shot well for the game, hitting 64.6 percent from the field, its best mark in a game in nearly two years, and made 42 field goals, a mark again only topped by the 2008 win over York, when the Jets hit 47.
-Schieber led the Jets with 18 points, while Pegues added 16 points, four rebounds and three steals. Nwosu went for 14 points and three assists, Williams chipped in 12 points and four boards, with Love also adding 12 to go with four assists. Thurman added 11 points to go with team highs with five rebounds and five assists.
-Newman won the rebounding battle 33-28, shot 11-of-23 from 3-point range, assisted on 21 of its 42 made field goals and had just 11 turnovers while forcing 20 out of the Aggies.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets head back to Wichita for their lone game next week, facing Oklahoma Christian at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Fugate Gymnasium.
