Game 5: Newman (2-2, 0-0 MIAA) vs. Manhattan Christian (3-4, 0-0 MCCC)
Saturday, November 27, 2021 | 3:00 p.m. | Wichita, Kan. (Fugate Gymnasium)
Audio:  Newman Jets Audio Network | Video:  MIAA Network
 
IT'S THE FINAL COUNTDOWN
Newman plays their last nonconference game of the year on Saturday.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Stevie Strong scored 20 career-high points and the Jets pulled away in the second half for an 82-57 victory over Sterling College November 23, 2021.  The teams traded buckets early before NU pulled away with a 9-2 run, but Sterling fought back to trail 36-31 at the break.  The Jets found their stride early in the second half with a 17-4 run to take a 53-35 lead with 10:28 to play.  The Jets eventually built the lead to 20 and the Warriors never got closer than 15 the rest of the way.
Full Recap | Box Score
 
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.), Kent Olewiler (Eastern, PA), 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
Manhattan Christian College posted an 18-11 record in 2020-21 while winning the Midwest Christian College Conference title with an 8-1 record.  The Thunder lost their first six games of the year but rallied to win their next nine games and 12 of 13 overall.  The Thunder then upset top-seed Barclay College to claim the MCCC Conference Tournament championship.  The Thunder are looking for their fourth straight winning season.  MCC hasn't settled for a losing record since an 11-18 campaign in 2017-18.  The Thunder are also seeking their third-straight appearance in the National Christian College Athletic Association Tournament.
 
The Thunder's last regular season contest against Union College on Monday, November 15 was postponed.  The Thunder fell in their last regulation game against Kansas Wesleyan 100-63.  MCC was last in action in exhibition play and fell at Northwest Oklahoma State 96-76 on Saturday, November 20.  The Rangers started the game on a 15-6 run, but the Thunder answered and closed the half with a buzzer-beating three to cut the deficit to 47-42 at the half.  MCC tied the game early in the second half with a 5-0 run, but NWOSU answered with the next 7 points and used a late 11-4 run to expand the lead to double digits and a 12-0 run with less than five minutes to go to remove all doubt.  Jordan Marshall led MCC with 23 points as four Thunder players scored in double figures.
 
THE SERIES
Newman leads the all-time series 12-0 against the Thunder in NU's Division II era.
 
PREVIOUS MATCHUP
Newman started the game on a 13-0 run and never looked back in a record-setting 135-60 victory November 13, 2019.  NU shot a blistering 62% from the field and 55% from the 3-point line.  Junior center Kaleb Allison dominated with 30 points off the bench on 11-of-14 shooting as six Jets scored in double-figures.  The 135 points set a new record for points scored in a game by the Jets in NU's Division II era.  The previous record was a 118-99 victory over Oklahoma Panhandle State Saturday, January 7, 2017 in Heartland Conference action in the Aggies' last season as a member of the league and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NAIA status.
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.
 
CALLING DOWN THE THUNDER
Jordon Strom is in his third year as the men's basketball coach at Manhattan Christian College.  Strom also serves as Athletic director at his alma mater.  Strom touts a 37-22 record over his two seasons in the Little Apple had has led the Thunder to back-to-back Midwest Christian College Conference championships and won the 2021 MCCC conference tournament title as well.  The Thunder finished the Coronavirus-shortened 2020 postseason as the No. 2 seed in the NCCAA tournament and made a run to the Elite Eight in last year's NCCAA tournament.  Strom returned to Kansas after serving as athletic director and head men's basketball coach at Dallas Christian College from 2017-2019.  There, he led the Crusaders on a dramatic 16-win improvement in his first year as DCC finished 18-9 and qualified for the 2018 NCCAA Tournament.  Strom was named the NCCAA Southwest Region Coach of the Year in 2018 and again in 2020.  Strom's overall record in four total seasons is 63-48 with a sparkling 16-2 record in conference games.  Strom is well acquainted with the Little Apple after graduating from Kansas State in 2016.
 
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 33-0 against NAIA-level competition.  Overall, the Jets have won 34 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.
 
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.
• Freshman guard Stevie Strong poured in a career-high 20 points in NU's 82-57 victory over Sterling.
• Sophomore Damani Thomas collected a career-high 11 points in Newman's 59-53 win over Tabor on November 18, 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 begin a grueling MIAA schedule with a road trip to Pittsburg State on Wednesday, December 1.