WICHITA, Kan. – On Tuesday night, the Newman Jets hosted Pittsburg State hoping to rebound from a tough loss on Saturday afternoon against Missouri Southern. After leading for most of the game, shooting struggles down the stretch cost the Jets a win and they would fall to Pittsburg State 72-70.
For the second game in a row, Newman would start the scoring off with a layup by
David Javorsky to start a Jets 8-2 scoring run. The Gorillas would respond going on a 7-0 run to take the lead 9-8 with 14:49 left in the first half. On the next possession,
Tyjil Hereford would drain a three to give the Jets back the lead. Both teams would exchange baskets and with the score 17-15, the Jets would go on 8-2 run to give them a 8 point lead 25-17 with 6:29 left in the first half.
The Gorillas would respond as they would cut the Jets lead to 4, with 5:54 left in the first half. The Gorillas were able to cut the Jets lead to as little as one point, before Newman would go on an 8-0 run to take a 34-25 lead with just over two minutes remaining in the half. After stretching the lead to 10 points, the largest lead for either team, Newman would give up three points to the Gorillas to close out the half. The Jets entered the intermission with a 39-32 lead.
The Gorillas would be able to cut the Jets lead to one once again, 51-50 with14:42 left. The Jets would respond with two three point baskets by
Branden Bunn and a layup from
Jorge Oliva to extend their lead back out to 9 points with just over twelve minutes left to play. The Gorillas would then respond with run of their own as they would rip off a 13-4 run to tie up the game 63-63 with 7:36 left in the second half, taking their first lead of the half with a couple of free throws just a few seconds later.
Bunn would make another three point basket to put the Jets back on top 66-65. The Gorillas would score the next four points to gain a three point lead with 4:19 left. The Jets would tie the game up with 57 seconds remaining after two
Joel Boyce free throws made the score 70-70. On the ensuing possession, the Gorillas would make a layup to take a 2 point lead late. After missing a few good looks at the rim and a blocked shot, the Jets were unable to even the game back up and would fall to the Gorillas 72-70.
Newman (0-2, 0-2) shot 22-59 from the floor for 37.3 percent, 10-of-26 from three for 38.5 percent and 16-20 from the free throw line for 80.0 percent. While Pittsburg State shot 23-59 for 39.0 percent, and 7-22 from 3 for 31.8 percent. The Jets out-rebounded the Gorillas by 6, 45-39.
For the second game in a row, Branden Bunn led Newman in scoring with 24 points and 4 rebounds.
Joel Boyce added 10 points and 8 rebounds for the Jets in the loss.
Newman (0-2,0-2) will be back in action as they travel to Emporia, Kansas to take on Emporia State on Thursday, Dec. 3 with tip-off at 7:30 PM.
