WICHITA, Kan. — With a new head coach at the helm and finishing with a winning record the Newman Men's basketball team will be looking to extend their season this weekend as they head to Tulsa for the Heartland Conference Men's Basketball Championship.
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Quarterfinals
Thursday, March 1
Game 1: #2 Arkansas-Fort Smith vs. #7 Oklahoma Christian, Noon
Game 2: #1 Dallas Baptist vs #8 Texas A&M International, 5:00 P.M.
Friday March 2
Game 1: #4 Lubbock Christian vs #5 Rogers State, Noon
Game 2: #3 Newman vs #6 St. Edward's, 5:00 P.M.
Semifinals
Saturday, March 3
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 4, Noon
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs Winner Game 3, 5:00 P.M.
Championship
Sunday March 4
Game 7: Semifinal winners, Noon
SCOUTING NEWMAN
The Jets (14-13, 10-6 Heartland) had a good run at the end of the season winning six out of eight to close out the season. Last Wednesday the Jets took a trip to Claremore, Oklahoma for a matchup with Rogers State Newman would win a close game 68-65. The Jets would fall to the Heartland Co-Champions Dallas Baptist Saturday 62-74 to finish the regular season but Newman Showed a lot of fight climbing their way back into the game.
Leaders
Dametrius Walker-14.7 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 35 stl, 49.8 FG%, 77.6 FT%
Ben Ayre-13.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.9 apg, 24 stl, 37.2 FG%, 89.0 FT%
Kevin Bryant-12.2 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.7 apg, 30 stl, 54.2 FG%, 72.1 FT%
Tim Troussel-6.4 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 2.0 apg, 7 stl, 57.4 FG%, 53.7 FT%
Damien Akao-6.4 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 0.6 apg, 15 stl, 44.4 FG%,91.4 FT%
SCOUTING THE FIELD
Newman will begin their chase with a Friday evening matchup against the six-seeded St. Edward's (17-11, 7-9 Heartland). The Hilltoppers finished the season with two conference victories first a mid-week matchup at home against Texas A&M International, St. Edward's would take this game 77-63. To finish up the season the Hilltoppers would go up against the Chaps winning another game at home to finish up the season and go into the tournament on a high note.
The next highest seed on the Newman side of the bracket is #2 Arkansas-Fort Smith (24-4, 12-4 Heartland) who were the Heartland Co-Champions along with Dallas Baptist. The Jets won an earlier matchup at home between the two teams 64-73.
On the other side of the bracket the teams include the number one overall seeded Dallas Baptist (23-5, 12-4 Heartland), who ended its season with two wins as well. The Patriots would end the season beating both St. Mary's and Newman to get the co-championship nod. Dallas Baptist will have a matchup with #8 Texas A&M International (11-17, 4-12 Heartland) and the winner of that game will face either Lubbock Christian (13-14, 9-7 Heartland) or Rogers State (18-10, 9-7 Heartland) in the semifinal round.
Leaders
Landon Goesling (SEU)-22.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 46.9 FG%, 85.8 FT%
Elijah Strickland (OCU)-17.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 44.5 FG%, 73.9 FT%
Issac Asrat (LCU)-16.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.0 apg, 46.6 FG%, 66.3 FT%
Baron Smith Jr. (RSU)-15.9 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 2.9 apg, 45.1 FG%, 81.1 FT%
Jordan Box (OCU)-15.6 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 1.8 apg, 43.2 FG%, 88.0 FT%
Brennen Fowler (LCU)-14.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 55.6 FG%, 68.1 FT%
Chandler Jacobs (DBU)-14.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 3.1 apg, 58.5 FG%, 82.8 FT%
NOTES
-St. Edward's finished the season as the conference leading team in scoring with 87.1 ppg. Newman finished sixth in the mark at 74.5 ppg.
-Newman has proven itself against some of the best defenses in the league which include Texas A&M International (65.4 ppg), Rogers State (68.3 ppg), and Arkansas-Fort Smith (69.8 ppg).
-Dametrius Walker finished the season as the team's leading scorer averaging 14.7 ppg 1.5 better than the next scorer Ben Ayre who finished the season with a 13.6 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 92.3 FM in Wichita, with live stats available at www.newmanjets.com.
