WICHITA, Kan. – The Newman men's basketball team suffered a gut wrenching defeat Thursday night (Feb. 21) inside the Fugate Gymnasium as a 10-point lead was vanished by a late Lubbock Christian rally 71-66. The loss drops the Jets to 18-8 on the year, falling to 9-5 in the Heartland while the Chaparrals move to 18-8 on the year and 9-5 in conference play.
Engaged in a tightly contested battle early with neither team gaining more than three points of separation through the first 17 minutes, the Chaparrals jumped out to the halves biggest lead 27-22 with 2:33 to play in the first half. The Jets however would close the first half on a 9-0 run as Marshawn Blackmon led the charge scoring five of the final nine points as the Jets took the 31-27 lead into the break.
Despite a brutal 2-for-8 shooting performance from outside in the first half, guard Ben Ayre showed strong signs to a different story line for the second half nailing an opening possession trey. The Jets would score the first six points to open the second half extending the run from the first half out to a 15-0 run gaining their largest lead of the game 37-27 with 18:55 left.
Maintaining a steady seven point lead 55-48 with 8:31 to play, Lubbock Christian caught fire making 4-of-4 from the field over the next 2:23 tying the ballgame 57-57 with 5:54 capping a 7-2 run. Junior, Christian DeYoung dialed up Newman's first three pointer breaking up a 0-for-10 dry spell moving the Jets back out in front 60-57.
Falling behind for the first time in the second half 62-60, Blackmon sank the Jets third three pointer of the game pulling Newman back out in front 63-62 with 3:37 to play, however the Chaparrals continued to storm back with hot shooting tying their largest lead 69-64 with 28-second left. Newman would get one last chance to knot things up in the final seconds as Blackmon forced a LCU turnover with 16-seconds left, however Ayre's potential game tying shot fell short of the rim as the Jets suffered a heartbreaking 71-66 defeat.
The Jets shot a season low 5-for-35 just 12.5-percent from behind the three point line.
The Jets were led by Juwan Davenport's 22 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Marshawn Blackmon posted his first double-double since (Dec. 29) finishing with 15 points, while pulling down 14 rebounds. Time Troussel led the way off the bench for the Jets scoring 12 of the teams 20 points off the bench.
The Jets will look to bounce back in their home finale Wednesday night (Feb. 27) against Rogers State. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. inside the Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.
