FORT SMITH, Ark. — Finding its groove in the second half, the Newman men's basketball team saw a look at the game-tying shot just rim out multiple times as it took an 86-80 loss at the hands of second-place Arkansas-Fort Smith Thursday night at the Stubblefield Center.
KEY SEQUENCE
Trailing since early in the first half, the Jets (14-11, 7-10 Heartland) charged back into it to make it a three-point game at two different times in the final minutes. Already on a 5-0 run against the Lions (19-6, 12-5 Heartland) as the clock ticked under two minutes to play, Newman saw three shots at the game-tying 3-pointer just rim out as the team got two big offensive rebounds from Daniel Nwosu to give them extra chances before the final shot fell harmlessly out of bounds untouched to go back to UAFS.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-James Pegues answered a game-opening basket by the Lions with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to give Newman its first lead, but UAFS was able to go on the game's first run, rattling off eight straight points to grab a 10-3 lead with 17:14 left in the opening half.
-Nwosu took things into his own hands from that point, hitting a layup followed by back-to-back 3-pointers — one off a slick feed from Jalen Love — to take the Jets on an 8-0 run in 59 seconds and push the guests out to an 11-10 lead.
-A Gavin Thurman layup temporarily put Newman back in front 13-12 with 13:25 left, but the Lions scored eight straight to take control as the half neared the halfway point. Pegues and Thurman hit jumpers around a 65-second dry stretch to cut the lead to three, and the Jets inched a bit closer as Love fed to Cortrael Colbert, who hit a 3-pointer to make it 24-22.
-After a 4-0 spurt by the Lions, Pegues hit a deep trey, followed 18 seconds later by a Colbert Jumper to make it a one-point game at 28-27 with 6:28 to go in the half. UAFS would rattle off six straight, but Love hit a 3-pointer and Colbert provided another jumper as the final basket of the half to keep the Jets down just six at the break.
-A cold finish to the first half continued into the second half for the Jets, who watched the Lions open their lead up to as big as 10 before a Nwosu 3-pointer cut the advantage to seven. A trey from Love just over a minute later made it 48-40, and a pair of free throws from Pegues made it a six-point game at 15:51.
-Nwosu sank all three freebies after being fouled on an attempt from beyond the arc to make it a five-point game, and a Kevin Bryant layup cut it to the same margin at 52-47 with 14:22 left. After a short burst from UAFS to get the lead as high as 15, two straight dunks from Pegues followed by a Love layup made that an 11-point lead.
-That was the start of a run that carried the Jets back from down double digits to make it just a three-point game. Free throws by Love and Pegues preceded 3-pointers by Love and Taylor Schieber, the latter of which made it a 68-65 lead for the Lions with 6:40 to go. Six straight points from the Lions gave them a cushion.
-A layup by Nwosu followed by two free throws from Pegues made it a four-point game, and after the hosts stretched things back out to eight with 2:45 to play, the Jets answered with a big 3-pointer from Thurman and a running stick-back by Pegues to make it 80-77 before they embarked on their final chance to tie things. The Lions would hit their free throws to be able to ice the game.
NOTES
-Pegues led all scorers with 24 points, hitting 8-of-14 from the field, 2-of-4 from deep and 6-of-7 from the line. He added four rebounds, a game-high three steals, two assists and a block in one of his best all-around games of the season. The 24 points ties his best output of the season.
-Nwosu netted 19 points for Newman, hitting 4-of-10 from 3-point range and adding three rebounds. Love and Thurman combined for 23 points and seven rebounds, while Love dished out a game-high five assists. Bryant and Schieber each posted six rebounds, while Colbert went for seven points.
-It was the fifth straight game between the Jets and the Lions to be decided by four points or fewer. The past six straight games have seen a margin of five or smaller.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets close out their final roadtrip of the regular season Saturday, heading to Rogers State for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday.
