DALLAS — The trio of Ben Ayre, Marshawn Blackmon and Juwan davenport combined to score 69 points as the Newman men's basketball team picked up their first sweep over Dallas Baptist since the 2012-2013 season Saturday afternoon (Mar. 2).
The Jets picked up just their second win over a regionally ranked team this season as Newman defeated regionally ranked No. 6 Dallas Baptist 102-94.
The Jets finished the season tied for third place in the Heartland Conference with Lubbock Christian. The Jets conclude the regular season with a record of 20-8 overall record and 11-5 Heartland Conference record.
Newman used a 9-0 start to open the game hitting 3 of their first 5 shots in the first 3:05. The trend quickly changed as both teams swapped the lead back and forth six different times over the next five minutes seeing five ties.
Three minutes past the halfway point of the first half, Ayre dialed up one of his five triples giving the Jets the lead for the rest of the first half, 30-27. The Jets stretched the lead to six twice in the final six minutes.
Newman took a 47-46 lead into the break after a strong 56.3 shooting percentage in the first half.
Unlike previous road games this season where Newman suffered heartbreaking second half leads slip away, the Jets responded nicely after trailing 61-57 with 12:51 to play. The big three consisting of Ayre, Blackmon and Davenport led an 8-0 run midway through the second half extending the Newman lead 71-63 with 9:34 to play.
The Jets continued to keep the foot on the gas pedal as sophomore, Cameron Goldfinch scored 8-of-14 straight points for the Jets during a 14-0 run pushing the Jets out to their largest lead 85-67 during a 28-6 run over an eight minute stretch.
The Patriots would claw back late cutting the deficit to six, 98-92 with 25-seconds to play, but the Jets converted 4-of-4 from the line in the closing seconds earning their first win since January 16th, 2014, 102-94 handing the Patriots their first back-to-back home loss since the 2016-17 season.
Senior, Ben Ayre set a new career high leading the way with 32 points on 8-of-13 shooting connecting on 5-of-7 from behind the three point line, while dishing out five assists.
Marshawn Blackmon continued his string of double-doubles recording his third straight and ninth of the year finishing with 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds.
Juwan Davenport added in 16 points off the bench shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the field in 22 minutes of action.
Cameron Goldfinch continued his strong play as of late recording his sixth double-figure scoring game of the season finishing with 13 points.
The Jets shot their best percentage of the year finishing with a 60-percent field goal percentage, while tying the most made three-pointers in the effort knocking in nine.
The Jets will travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Conference Tournament beginning March, 7. Newman enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed and will take on No. 5 seed Rogers State on Friday evening (Mar. 8) at 2:30 p.m.
