KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ben Ayre and the Newman men's basketball team put up a thrilling first-half performance Tuesday night at the MIAA Challenge at Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium, but Pittsburg State controlled the final 20 minutes to earn an 88-69 win.

KEY SEQUENCE

In the first few minutes coming out of the locker room, the Jets (2-2) battled back and forth with the Gorillas (4-1), but the MIAA foe turned things around with the help of an 18-3 run that covered more than seven minutes and took it from a 51-49 Newman lead to a 67-54 advantage.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-An early 4-0 lead for PSU — all on free throws — was answered with a 7-0 burst from the Jets — all from Ben Ayre. The Gorillas answered with a seven-point run of its own, but Ayre calmly converted on back-to-back three-point plays to tie it up 13-13 at the 11:48 mark.

-Pitt State extended the lead out to nine in the next two minutes, but Andre Sands netted four straight points to key a 6-0 run and get it back to three. Coming out of the final media timeout of the first half, Newman ran off an 11-0 spurt, with Jacob Birnbaum picking up layups on three straight trips down the floor and Ayre adding a big 3-pointer as the Jets went ahead 37-33 with less than three minutes until halftime.

-A 9-2 run was enough to put Pitt State back in front late in the half, but a Tim Troussel lay-in made it a one-point game at the break. Dametrius Walker and Sands each gave the Jets back the lead early in the second half, and Walker answered a PSU triple with one of his own two minutes into the period to make it 48-47.

-Ayre hit a triple at the 16:16 mark to give Newman its final lead of the game before the Gorillas went on their run to take control. DeAndre Johnson and Cameron Goldfinch each converted a pair of free throws with less than seven minutes to play to momentarily cut the lead to single digits at 70-61, but PSU followed with a 6-0 run to help dull the threat.

NOTES

-Ayre put up a career-high 25 points on 7-of-17 shooting on the night. The junior was especially hot in the first half, scoring 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 7-of-7 from the line, and assisted on three of the field goals he didn't make himself.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets continue their string of facing MIAA opponents, heading to the ESU Thanksgiving Classic this weekend to face Emporia State and Central Missouri.