SAN ANTONIO — Withstanding a late comeback to force a pair of overtimes, the Newman men's basketball team fell 99-94 to St. Mary's in a Heartland Conference heartbreaker Thursday night.
KEY SEQUENCE
Foul trouble crept up on the Jets (6-9, 3-2 Heartland) in overtime, but they kept finding a way back in it against the Rattlers (6-9, 2-2 Heartland). Dametrius Walker hit a free throw in the final seconds of the first extra session to tie it, but the hosts went to the free throw line 19 times in the second OT and converted on 14 hold on.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-A huge start helped propel the Jets to a healthy lead, as Damien Akao nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to help the guests start the game with a 10-0 lead. A triple from Ben Ayre and an Andre Sands bucket pushed that lead to 18-7 with 12:28 on the clock.
-Layups from Kevin Bryant and Walker preceded an Ayre 3-pointer to make it a 16-point lead with four minutes left in the half. That seven-point run was followed immediately by an 8-0 burst from the Rattlers, but that just made it an eight-point game, and a pair of free throws in the final seconds of the half put it at 35-27 at the break.
-St. Mary's got off to its own hot start in the second half with a 13-4 run that sliced its deficit the whole way down to two. Bryant converted on a pair of field goals in less than a minute to help push the lead back out to seven at 51-44 near the midway point of the half, but the Rattlers chipped away until taking their first lead on a Skyler Brooks 3-pointer.
-Ayre put the Jets back in front with two free throws, but the hosts appeared ready to steal the win with four freebies in the final minute. Akao didn't let that happen though, burying a 3-pointer with seconds left to force overtime.
-Walker hit his free throw with less than 10 seconds left in the first overtime, and a potential buzzer beater at the other end rimmed out for the Rattlers to send it to a second OT. A 7-0 run from St. Mary's propelled them to an eight-point lead with 35 seconds left, and although Akao nailed his sixth 3-pointer of the night with four ticks left, the hosts converted on the other end to hold on.
NOTES
-Helped out by the 10 extra minutes of game action, the Jets found themselves in foul trouble late, with five players eventually fouling out of the game, hurting the guests' depth. Newman was whistled for 43 fouls, which is a new Heartland record in a conference game.
-Walker netted 25 points on the night, his third 20-point effort of the season. The junior is averaging 21.8 points per game in his last four outings.
-Akao started and ended regulation with high points for the Jets, and finished with a career-high 18 points, coming on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Jets look to turn things around with a Saturday matchup at Texas A&M International.
