Game 4: Newman (1-2, 0-0 MIAA) vs. Sterling (2-6, 0-2 KCAC)
Tuesday, November 23, 2021 | 7:30 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Fugate Gymnasium)
Audio:  Newman Jets Audio Network | Video:  MIAA Network
 
ATTACK OF THE KCAC
The Jets are back at home hosting the Sterling Warriors from the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference Tuesday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Newman started fast and held on late to fend off a tough challenge from Tabor College and pick up their first win of the season 59-53 Thursday, November 18.  Four Jets scored in double figures with newcomer Damani Thomas leading the way with 11 points.  David Javorsky hit all three of his shots from bonus distance and also tallied 11 for the Navy & Red.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
The Jets' game scheduled for Saturday, November 20 at Cameron was postponed due to Coronavirus protocols inside the Aggies program.  No makeup date has been announced.
 
SCOUTING THE SQUADRON
Newman ended last year's pandemic-abbreviated season 4-18 while playing all 22 games within the MIAA.  The Jets return 10 players from a year ago, including two of their top three scorers from that team.  The Jets will suit up four players classified as juniors this season who played at that classification a year ago, but plan to utilize the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA in response to the Coronavirus Pandemic.  The Jets welcome five new freshmen to the program and they are joined by three sophomores and three other juniors.  Transferring into the Jets program are Clay Center High School product Anthony Atkinson (Barton County), former Wichita Southeast High School star Israel Barnes (Texas-Permian Basin, Weber St.), A. J. Morris (Alcorn St.), and Damani Thomas (Niagara).
 
TOP RETURNERS
Junior guard Branden Bunn is the Jets' leading returning scorer after scoring 11.8 ppg a year ago.  Bunn also led the Jets in 3-pointers connecting on 42.5% of his attempts.  Bunn also proved a valuable addition to the Jets defense by leading the Navy & Red with 24 steals last season.  Redshirt junior forward DeAndre Johnson is NU's leading returning rebounder after snatching 4.3 rpg for the Jets last year.  Sophomore guard Ian Lee returns to pilot the Jets offense after tallying the second-most assists for NU a year ago with 46 dimes against just 40 turnovers.  Lee is also the best returning free throw shooter from last year's team after connecting on over 86% of his tries from the line.
 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES
Sterling College finished 9-18 last season with a 6-16 record inside the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference.  The Warriors are moving in the right direction after posting just seven victories in the previous year.  Sterling posted its last 10+ win season in 2015-16 going 10-19 overall and 8-12 in the KCAC.  Sterling hasn't finished above .500 since the 2013-14 campaign and has suffered through six-straight losing campaigns.  2013-14 was also the last time Sterling finished with a winning KCAC record after going 24-8 overall and 14-4 against KCAC opponents.
 
Sterling dropped to 0-2 in KCAC play after a 94-70 setback against Southwestern Saturday, November 20.  The game was tied at 20 midway through the first half, but the Moundbuilders used an 11-1 run to take a 31-21 lead they expanded to 13 at the half.  Sterling cut the deficit to four on a 7-0 run with 12 minutes to go, but the Jinx answered back with an 18-4 to take an 18-point lead.  Sterling didn't get closer than 15 the rest of the way.  Daven Dunbar led four Warriors in double-figures with 16 points.
 
THE SERIES
Newman leads the all-time series with Sterling 3-0 in the Jets' NCAA Division II era.  The Warriors defeated the Jets three times in a row to end the schools' NAIA rivalry.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
Kalin Johnson scored 18 to lead NU in scoring for the second straight game and the Jets used a late run to pull away from Sterling College and defeat the Warriors 98-66 December 16, 2019 at Fugate Gymnasium.  Sterling was up to the challenge of playing the Jets early, playing the Navy & Red to a tie through the first 12 minutes of the game.  After NU pulled away for a seven-point lead at the half, the Jets put the game away with a 16-0 run in the second half. 
Full Recap | Box Score
 
CAPTAIN OF THE FLEET
R. J. Allen begins his fifth season as the head coach of the Jets in 2021.  It will be his 11th season with the program.  Allen has compiled a record of 47-60 over his first 4 years in Wichita with a 7-34 record in MIAA play.  Allen has coached a player to the All-MIAA team each of his first two years in the league.  Joel Boyce was named All-MIAA Honorable Mention in 2021 while Marshawn Blackmon earned Third Team recognition in 2020.  During the Jets' last year in the Heartland Conference, Allen led NU to a 20-9 overall record while finishing third in the Heartland Conference at 11-5.  The 20 wins tied the NU record for victories in their NCAA Division II era.  NU also finished the season in the Top 10 of the South Central Regional Rankings.  Allen was named the 2018 Heartland Conference Coach of the Year in his first season at the helm at Newman after guiding the Jets on a dramatic turnaround in the second half of the season that saw NU finish 14-14 overall and third in the conference with a 10-6 record.
 
Allen arrived in Wichita in 2011 and spent six seasons as an assistant and eventually associate head coach under Mark Potter, NU's all-time winningest coach.  The Jets won 88 games over those 6 years and made four trips to the Heartland Conference Tournament and the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance after going 20-8 in 2012-13.  He was also on the bench when the Jets knocked off No. 2 seed Lubbock Christian in the first round of the 2016 Heartland Conference Tournament to earn its first ever postseason victory as an NCAA program.
 
Allen is no stranger to the Air Capital after growing up in Wichita and playing his prep years for his dad, Ron, at Wichita East High School.  Allen was a two time All-City and All-State selection and helped lead the Blue Aces to the 2002 6A state championship.  Following high school, Allen stayed local playing two years at Hutchinson Community College.  The Blue Dragons dominated during Allen's career going 57-9 over the two year span with a 41-1 record in Jayhawk Conference play and winning the conference title in 2004.
 
MAKING WAR WITH THE WARRIORS
Adam Hooker is in his third season with the Warriors basketball program.  Entering 2021-22, he has posted a record of 16-40 while going 11-35 in KCAC play.  Five of his players have earned All-KCAC recognition.  Hooker led Sterling to a seven-win season in his debut and improved to nine wins last year.  Hooker is an Olathe, Kan. native and attended Olathe North High School before continuing his basketball career in Kansas at MidAmerica Nazarene.  He joined the coaching staff of his alma mater after graduation and helped lead the Pioneers to three Final Four appearances in the NAIA Tournament and the 2007 NAIA DII National Championship.  Hooker then spent time as a head coach at the high school level, most recently at John F. Kennedy High School in Denver.
 
CLOSE CALLS
Newman played in 11 games last year in which the score of the game was within six points at some point in the final minute of regulation.  The Jets finished 3-8 in games where the final score was decided by a margin of 10 points or less a season ago. 
 
NEW MANAGEMENT
Kyle McLeroy begins his first year as assistant coach at Newman after spending the previous two years as a graduate assistant at Dallas Baptist University, a former Heartland Conference rival of the Jets.  Serving under long-time head coach Dr. Blake Flickner, McLeroy helped lead the Patriots to a 38-14 record over his two seasons.  DBU also earned a berth into two NCAA Tournaments with McLeroy on the bench.
 
McLeroy prepped at Cypress Ranch High School in Cypress, Texas before beginning his collegiate career at the University of Mary-Hardin Baylor.  As a freshman, he helped the Crusaders to a 25-3 record and a No. 5 ranking in the NCAA Division III Top 25.  He redshirted the next season and then transferred to NCAA Division I Sam Houston State.  There he led the Bearkats to a combined 50-20 record over his two seasons and helped set a new NCAA DI-era program record with 26 wins in the 2014-15 season.  Sam Houston State played twice in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game and made two appearances in the College Insider Tournament.
 
ASSERTING THEIR AUTHORITY
Since becoming an NCAA Division II program in the 2007-08 season, the Jets are a perfect 32-0 against NAIA-level competition.  Overall, the Jets have won 33 straight games against NAIA-level schools dating back to their last season as a member of the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference in 2006-07.  The Jets last fell to an NAIA school in their penultimate game in the MCAC, a 73-64 defeat to Bellevue in Wichita February 16, 2007.  Newman's previous win over an NAIA-level squad came in their last game in a 59-53 triumph over Tabor.
 
UNLOCK THE 'GATE
Newman is 13-2 as a Division II program in home openers, including a 4-1 record under R.J. Allen following the Jets' defeat of Tabor College last week.  NU had won nine home openers in a row at Fugate Gymnasium until last season.  The Navy & Red trailed by as many as 21 in the second half before roaring back but falling short in an 82-79 defeat to #21 Missouri Southern Saturday, November 21, 2020.  The Jets' only other defat in a home-opener came back in November of 2010 when current conference member Fort Hays State downed NU 84-71 in a nonconference match.
 
LEADING 'THE ASSOCIATION'

• Joel Boyce finished last season ninth in the MIAA in field goal percentage after hitting nearly 54 % of his shots.
• Branden Bunn was fourth in 3-point percentage, drilling 42.5% of his attempts from behind the arc.
• Bunn was also a volume shooter for the Jets, connecting on 2.6 3-pointers per game, good for a tie for fourth in the MIAA last season.
• As a team, the Jets tied for the fourth-best 3-point percentage in a game in the MIAA last year by making 57 % of their outside shots in a 90-68 win over Central Oklahoma.
• NU tied for the 5^th most free throws hit by an MIAA team last season swishing 29 of 35 tries in a 74-66 victory against Northeastern State.
• The Jets tied with Rogers State and Missouri Southern for the third-most turnovers in a game last season, committing 23 in a 100-61 loss at Washburn.

 
NU STATS 'N STREAKS

• The Jets ranked 14^th in the MIAA in scoring last season at 68 ppg and finished 10^th defensively, giving up 79 ppg. Concordia-St. Paul finished 12^th in the NSIC in offense a year ago while scoring 70 ppg and was 15^th defensively while allowing 85 ppg.  SMSU finished 16^th in the NSIC in offense last year scoring 63 ppg but was the 4^th best defensive team giving up 73 ppg.
• Sophomore Damani Thomas collected a career-high 11 points in Newman's 59-53 win over Tabor on November 18, 2021.
• Freshman Stevie Strong scored a career-high 11 points in NU's 84-58 loss to Southwest Minnesota State on November 13, 2021.
• Graduate guard A. J. Morris notched an NU-career-best 11 points in the Navy & Red's season opening loss @ Concordia-St. Paul.
• Freshman Stevie Strong has scored in double-figures in back-to-back games.
• The Jets are looking for their first winning season since 2018-19 when Newman finished 20-9 while tying for third in the Heartland Conference.  NU also seeks its first 10+ win season since that same campaign.  2018-19 was also the last season NU participated in the postseason, losing in the first round of the final Heartland Conference Tournament to Rogers State.

 
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Jets wrap up nonconference play for the year on Saturday, November 27 hosting Manhattan Christian College.  The NU women will start the night playing MCC at 5:30 p.m. with the Newman men to follow.