WICHITA, Kan. — After closing out the last regular season with coach Mark Potter on the bench, the Newman men's basketball team will look to extend his career as long as possible as it begins the postseason this week at the Heartland Conference Men's Basketball Championship.
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 2
Game 1: No. 1 Dallas Baptist vs. No. 8 Newman, 5:00 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 Texas A&M International vs. No. 7 St. Mary's, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, March 3
Game 3: No. 3 Arkansas-Fort Smith vs. No. 6 St. Edward's, 5:00 p.m.
Game 4: No. 4 Rogers State vs. No. 5 Lubbock Christian, 7:30 p.m.
Semifinals
Saturday, March 4
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4, 5:00 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7:30 p.m.
Championship
Sunday, March 5
Game 7: Semifinals winners, 3:00 p.m.
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (9-18, 7-11 Heartland) had an impressive final weekend at home, earning an exciting 90-72 victory over St. Mary's on Thursday before charging back to force overtime before ultimately falling to conference co-champion Texas A&M International Saturday afternoon. A crowd of over 700 filled Fugate Gymnasium and watched as Taylor Schieber netted 45 points to help the Jets climb back from 14 down.
Leaders
Daniel Nwosu Jr.-18.4 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.0 apg, 41 stl, 41.3 FG%, 88.5 FT%
Taylor Schieber-16.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.8 apg, 25 stl, 42.3 FG%, 40.6 3FG%, 84.9 FT%
Kevin Bryant-10.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.2 apg, 29 stl, 45.0 FG%
Daniel Green-8.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 58.6 FG%
Allen Wilson-6.6 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 1.7 apg, 44.3 FG%, 45.2 3FG%, 91.7 FT%
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Newman will start off its trip to the Union Multipurpose Activities Center with a Thursday evening tip against Dallas Baptist (19-9, 13-5 Heartland), one of three teams to tie for the regular season conference title. The Patriots won its final four games, scoring at least 93 points in each one. They earned the top seed by virtue of their 3-1 record against the other two co-champs, Texas A&M International and Arkansas-Fort Smith.
The next-highest seed on Newman's side of the bracket is No. 4 Rogers State (19-9, 12-6 Heartland), which finished one game back after losing to UAFS on Saturday. The Jets are one of just two conference teams to beat the Hillcats on the road, the other being Fort Smith.
Should RSU get upset in the first round, it would be by Lubbock Christian (18-10, 12-6 Heartland), which will have to wear a dark jersey in the first round despite finishing just one game out of first place. The Chaparrals also closed with a four-game win streak, and beat five of the other seven tournament teams the last time they played.
On the other side of the bracket from the Jets are the other two co-champions in TAMIU (20-9, 13-5 Heartland) and UAFS (20-10, 13-5 Heartland), who came in as the second and third seeds, respectively. St. Edward's and St. Mary's, two teams that the Jets beat at home but fell to on the road, round out the bracket.
Leaders
Patrick Burke (DBU)-15.4 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 70.2 FG%
Myles Johnson (DBU)-12.7 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.2 apg, 44.0 FG%, 43.4 3FG%, 86.2 FT%
Amari Bryant (DBU)-11.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 2.9 apg, 48.6 FG%, 44.5 3FG%, 87.5 FT%
Brennen Fowler (LCU)-13.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 1.0 apg, 42 blk, 56.4 FG%
Jeylyn Sharpe (RSU)-16.2 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 33 stl, 49.3 FG%, 39.2 3FG%
Seth Youngblood (UAFS)-14.7 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 26 stl, 41.6 FG%, 91.3 FT%
Yanni Wetzell (StMU)-15.4 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 1.6 apg, 50.3 FG%, 42.5 3FG%
Denzel Bellot (TAMIU)-13.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.7 apg, 43 stl, 48.6 FG%, 44.4 3FG%
Ramir Burton (SEU)-16.5 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 30 stl, 49.2 FG%
NOTES
-DBU is the Heartland's highest scoring team averaging 86.9 points per game. That helps the Patriots outscore opponents by 13.6 per game, also the best mark in the league. Newman is third in scoring, five points behind DBU.
-The Newman offense has proven itself against the stingiest of defenses in the league, averaging 82.0 against TAMIU and 79.5 against Rogers State, teams that allow only 68.8 and 69.5 per game, respectively, the top two numbers in the league.
-Daniel Nwosu Jr. finished the regular season leading the conference in scoring at 18.8 points per game, 1.2 better than the next best scorer. Taylor Schiber, helped by his Division II-era record 45 points on Saturday, finished third with a 16.7 average.
COVERAGE
Every game of the Heartland Conference tournament will be live streamed for no charge on the conference website. In addition, each Newman contest will be carried live on KGSO (93.9 FM, 1410 AM) in Wichita, with live stats and an online audio feed available at www.newmanjets.com.
