WICHITA, Kan. — Clawing its way back from a second-half deficit, the Newman men's basketball team tied it up late, but fell in an 84-80 decision to Rockhurst in nonconference action Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium.

KEY SEQUENCE

The Jets (5-7) tied things up at 80-80 with 35 seconds to play on a layup from Dametrius Walker that gave the junior 30 points on the day, but the Hawks (8-4) answered with a bucket from Alex Hagan at the end of the shot clock to push the guests back ahead with nine ticks on the clock. Newman got the ball again, but couldn't find the equalizer as Rockhurst held on for the narrow win.

HOW IT HAPPENED

-Big 3-pointers from Damien Akao and Ben Ayre keyed an early 8-0 run for the Jets who built a 10-6 lead in the first five minutes. Rockhurst went up on a trey of its own, but a five-point run from the host made it 18-14 with 9:27 to go in the first half.

-That burst put the Jets in front for a span that lasted nearly 15 minutes, including a run late in the first half that saw the teams combine to go 6-of-7 from 3-point range in a two-minute period. The Jets picked up triples from Cameron Goldfinch, Walker and Ayre as the lead bounced between six and nine, and a layup from Ayre as the clock expired made it 46-38 at the break.

-Five combined points from Walker and Ayre kept the Jets chugging along, but the Hawks picked up an 11-2 run to move back in front 54-53 at the 13:55 mark of the second half. Akao pushed Newman back in front with a 3-pointer less than a minute later, and a trey from Tyjil Hereford broke a tie to make it 61-58 in favor of the hosts with 11:10 to play.

-Rockhurst turned it around quickly though, getting eight points from Curtis Lewis during a 12-2 run that turned it into a seven-point advantage for the guests. The Jets pulled it back to a one-point game thanks to an Akao triple and a Tim Troussel layup, and a pair of free throws from DeAndre Johnson tied it up at 73-73.

-Akao buried another 3-pointer with 3:03 to play, and Kevin Bryant pulled it to within two with a lay-in 20 seconds later to set things up for Walker to tie it late.

NOTES

-Walker's 30 points came on 11-of-14 shooting, the most points and field goals made for the Jets in a game this season. He added a game-high seven rebounds and two steals.

-Akao went 4-for-4 from deep for 12 points, while Ayre added 16 points and was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc.

-Saturday was the third time in the past four games that Newman has shot at least 51 percent from the field, sinking 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) from the floor against the Hawks.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Jets return to Heartland Conference play in earnest, hosting Rogers State Thursday evening back at Fugate Gymnasium.