WICHITA, Kan. – The Newman men's basketball team saw their perfect home record come to an end Saturday afternoon (Feb. 9) 82-67, as the No. 2 ranked Hilltoppers rallied behind Ashton Spears' 30 points, while scoring 24 points off Newman turnovers.

The loss drops the Jets to 16-7 on the year and to 7-4 in Heartland Conference play, while the Hilltoppers move to 21-2 on the year and 10-1 in conference play.

It was a sloppy start for both teams in the first couple of minutes, as the two teams combined to shot a cool 2-of-11 from the field. The cool shooting for St. Edwarad's would quickly change as the Hilltoppers caught fire making five of their next six field goal attempts during a 9-2 run and gaining control of the game at 11-7.

Out of the under 16-timeout, the Newman offense got sloppy turning the ball over on three of their next five possessions lead to easy Hilltoppers baskets extending their lead out to 18-10.

After a Dametrius Walker trey at the 12:08 mark cutting the Newman deficit to 15-10, the Hilltoppers rattled off a 16-4 run over the next five minutes gaining their largest lead of the first half at the 7-minute mark 31-14. A 4-0 Newman run in the final minute and half of the first half trimmed the margin to 38-28 as the two teams went into the locker room.

The Jets shot a cool 37.5 percent from the floor, while the Hilltoppers converted 32 of their 38 points either in the pain or off a Newman turnover.

It looked to be a tough go in the second half after St. Edward's jumped back out to a 14 point advantage, until a few defensive stands by the Jets sparked a 13-2 run cutting the Hilltoppers lead to single digits 51-45 with 11:58 to play.

Just before the midway point in the second half, junior Ashton Spears caught fire scoring 11 of the next 13 Hilltoppers points putting a damper to the Jets comeback. After trailing by as many as 21 points late in the second half, the Jets closed the game on a 5-0 run dropping the contest 82-67.

Junior, Juwan Davenport recorded his third 20 point game of the season leading the way for the Jets. DeAndre Johnson recorded his second consecutive double-double and fourth double-double of the season finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Ben Ayre finished in double figures for the second straight game finishing with 11 points, while dishing out six assists.

The Jets will gear up for their farthest road trip of the season in San Antonio, Texas. The Jets will face St. Mary's Thursday evening (Feb. 14) at 7:30 p.m. inside the Bill Greehey Arena.