WICHITA, Kan. – To cap off the homecoming festivities the Newman men's basketball team squared up with St. Mary's Thursday evening at Fugate Gymnasium and lit up the scoreboard, winning 90-72.
 
KEY SEQUENCE  
 
The Jets (9-17, 7-10 Heartland) could not miss from the field in the first half against the Rattlers (10-17, 7-10 Heartland) shooting 69 percent from the floor and going on a key 18-4 run in the first half, which kept St. Mary's at bay throughout the rest of the game, never cutting the lead down to single digits.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
 
-Newman opened the game up on a 9-3 run, Daniel Green scored the first basket of the game, which was followed by a Kevin Bryant layup and a Daniel Nwosu Jr. 3-pointer. Bryant would finish the run with another layup.
 
-An 18-4 run from 15:28 to 10:41 would give the Jets a 27-10 lead early in the contest. Nwosu led the way during the run with eight points, including two 3-pointers, while Bryant added five points. Allen Wilson had three points and Jacob Birnbaum contributed two points to round out the scoring for the run.
 
-Newman ended the latter part of the first half by knocking down four 3-pointers from the 3:13 mark to the end of the half. Christian DeYoung had two of 3-pointers, while Taylor Schieber and Nwosu each had one during the stretch. The Jets would take a 55-34 lead into intermission.
 
-St. Mary's would almost get the Jet lead down to single digits at 56-45 with 16:29 remaining in the second half but a Wilson 3-pointer, along with back-to-back baskets from Birnbaum would get the Jet lead out to 63-47 with 13:49 to go.
 
-Back-to-back possessions for the Jets on offense ended with 3-pointers with one coming Damien Akao and Nwosu to give Newman a 72-59 lead heading into the under eight media timeout.
 
-Newman would go on a 9-3 run from 6:17 to 4:17 to push ahead 81-62, heading into the final media timeout of the game. During the run Green led the Jets in points with four, while Schieber added three and Birnbaum with two.
 
-An 11-2 run from 5:33 to 2:27 made the score 86-64 and that would be more than enough to give Newman a comfortable lead late in the game and the Jets a 90-72 victory over the visiting Rattlers.
 
LEADERS
 
Newman
Points: Nwosu, 25. Assists: Nwosu, Bryant, 5. Rebounds: Bryant, 9. Blocks: Green, 2. Steals: Nwosu, 2.
 
St. Mary's
Points: Yanni Wetzell, 29. Assists: Robbie Benavides, 7. Rebounds: Dimitri Peterson, 10. Blocks: Peterson, 2. Steals: Peterson, 3.
 
NOTES
 
-Nwosu once again led the Jets in scoring with 25 points, it is the second straight conference game that he has scored at least 20 points and the 11th time this season.
 
-Bryant was one rebound away from having a double-double, he recorded 17 points and was tied for the lead in assists with five.
 
-With the win the Jets tied St. Mary's for seventh place in the conference standings with one game to go. The final standings will come down to Saturday's game to determine the seeding for the conference tournament.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
 
The Jets complete their home schedule Saturday afternoon by taking on Texas A&M International at 3 p.m. inside Fugate Gymnasium. It's Senior Day for four Jet seniors and also the final home game for Coach Mark Potter.