LAREDO, Texas. – Newman men's basketball team completed the season sweep over the Dustdevils of Texas A&M International on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 16) extending their road winning streak to four straight games. Newman improves to 18-7 on the season and 9-4 in the Heartland Conference.
The Jets held an early 12-6 advantage through the first 6-minutes after a 12-2 run over a 5-minute span, despite poor shooting from both sides as the teams combined to shoot 5-of-20. Newman's defensive pressure continued to spark the offense as the Jets forced nine TAMIU turnovers through the first 12-minutes, jumping out to their largest lead of the half 21-10 after a 7-0 run.
Late in the first half, foul trouble started to build up for the Jets as the Dustdevils took advantage knocking down 10-of-17 free throws cutting the Jets lead down to 29-25 with 3:03 to play. Senior guard, Ben Ayre stretched the Jets lead back out to eight 34-26 with 2:01 to go in the opening half as the Jets outscored the Dustdevils 5-3 in the final 2:44 taking a 34-28 lead into the break.
The Jets came out of the locker rooms on fire opening the second half with a 7-0 run after Ayre drilled his fourth three-pointer of the contest jumping Newman out to a 41-28 lead, extending a 10-2 run going back to the end of the first half.
Maintaining a 10 point lead approaching the final six minutes of the contest, Ayre continued to stay hot from behind the three point line nailing his seventh trey of the game and dagger as Newman rallied a 13-0 run over a span of 2:36. The Jets would go on to lead by as many as 81-58 after Anthony Harvey nailed back-to-back Newman possession treys.
Ben Ayre led the Jets with 23 points after his monster day shooting from outside the three point line making 7-of-8 attempts. Juwan Davenport added in 14 points and pulled down five rebounds. Dametrius Walker added 12 points off the bench in just 14 minutes of action.
The Jets will return home for Homecoming on Thursday night (Feb. 21) as they will look to avenge an earlier loss on the road to Lubbock Christian. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. inside the Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.
