Game #10
Newman Jets (2-6, 2-6 MIAA) at Northeastern State Riverhawks (1-7, 1-7 MIAA)
Saturday, Jan. 9 • 3:30 P.M. Tahlequah, Okla. • NSU Event Center
Series Record: NSU leads series 3-1 Last Meeting: Jan. 18^th, 2020 NSU 75 NU 66 in Wichita, Kan.
Internet Audio: https://goriverhawksgo.com/watch/?Live=137&type=Live
Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman
Up Next: vs Lincoln • Thurs. Jan 14 • 7:30 P.M. • Wichita, Kan.
LAST TIME OUT
Early in the first half, Newman was able to get their first and only lead of the game, 6-4. After this point in the first half of the contest, the Hillcats started to knock down shots and pull away from the Jets. RSU would take a 29-18 lead into the intermission.  Newman would come out in the second half and cut the Rogers State lead to just 6 points five minutes into the final frame. An 11-0 run for RSU with just over eleven minutes left, would extend their lead to 17, 45-28. The Jets wouldn't be able to get it any closer than 14 points the rest of the way as RSU would take a 73-56 victory on their home court.

THE COACHES
RJ Allen is in his fourth season as the head coach and tenth on the staff for the Jets. Allen is 2-6, 2-6 in the MIAA in his fourth season at Newman. Last season under coach Allen, the Jets went 9-19 and 3-16 in the MIAA.  Allen has led Newman to a 34-23 overall record and a 21-11 Heartland Conference record over his first two seasons. Allen won Heartland Conference Coach of the Year honors in the 2017-18 season, he was the first coach to win the award in their first season. Prior to Newman Allen spent 5 season as an assistant coach at Concordia University in St. Paul, Minn.

Ja Havens is in his first season at the helm for Northeastern State Men's Basketball program in the 2020-21 season. Before coming to Northeastern State he coached at East Central University where he posted a record of 131-74 in seven seasons and helped the Tigers to back-to-back Great American Conference Regular Season championships in 2016 and 2017.

ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 2-6 on the season, 2-6 in the MIAA.  Newman is led in scoring by Junior guard Branden Bunn at 13.3 points per game.  Joel Boyce leads the Jets in rebounding at 7.5 rebounds per game. 

ABOUT THE RIVERHAWKS
Northeastern State is 1-7 on the season, 1-7 in the MIAA. Northeastern State is led in scoring by Caleb Williams at 18.0 points per game.  Trey Sampson leads the Riverhawks in rebounding at 5.0 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 5th meeting between these two schools with Northeastern State leading the series over Newman 3-1 including the season series last season.

LAST TIME VS NORTHEASTERN STATE
In the first half, it was a back and forth game with neither team gaining an advantage until the 7:52 mark in the half when Northeastern State (12-6, 5-4) would take the lead and hold on to the lead for the remainder of the half. A dunk by Marshawn Blackmon would cut the deficit to 1 with 37 seconds left as Newman would go into the half trailing 36-35.  In the second half, the Riverhawks would start on an 8-0 run to take their biggest lead of the day at 9 points. Newman would fight back as they would go on a 9-2 run to cut the deficit back down to two points with 15:17 left. Northeastern State would respond with their own 9-2 run to extend the lead back to 9 with 12:39 left. Newman would try to make a comeback, but NSU was too much for the Jets as the Riverhawks would defeat the Jets 75-66.
UP NEXT
The Jets will return home to host Lincoln University on Thursday, Jan. 14^th for another MIAA Conference Matchup with tip-off at 7:30 PM.

LISTEN, WATCH & FOLLOW LIVE
Video streams for all of Newman's regular season contests are available on a pay per view basis on the MIAA Network. Events are available live and is immediately archived for on-demand viewing at the conclusion of the event at www.themiaanetwork.com/newman and on the MIAA Network apps for Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. You can find all things Newman in the Newman Jets Athletics app available in both the App Store and on Google Play.