Game #22
Newman Jets (3-18, 3-18 MIAA) at Pittsburg State Gorillas (10-11, 10-11 MIAA)
Saturday, Feb. 27 • 3:30 P.M. Pittsburg, Kan. • John Lance Arena
Series Record: PSU leads series 8-4 Last Meeting: Nov. 24^th, 2020 PSU 72 NU 70 at Wichita, Kan.
Internet Audio: Newmanjets.com/listen Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman

LAST TIME OUT
Lincoln would start the contest by scoring the first ten points to jump out to an early lead. Newman would respond by scoring the next six points on three point baskets by Branden Bunn and Joel Boyce. The Blue Tigers would respond right back by scoring seven unanswered points to take a 17-6 lead with 13:51 in the first half. Lincoln would obtain their largest lead of the first half at the 6:30 mark where they would lead Newman 36-18. The Jets would try cut into the Blue Tiger lead during the remaining time in the half, but Lincoln would answer every run that Newman tried to put together. The Blue Tigers would lead 45-27.  Both teams would play the second half even as they would put up 35 points apiece in the final period of play. Newman would try to claw back into the contest cutting the onetime 22 point lead down to 14, but that would be as close as Lincoln would let them get the score as the Blue Tigers would cruise to an 80-62 victory over the Jets.

THE COACHES
RJ Allen is in his fourth season as the head coach and tenth on the staff for the Jets. Allen is 3-18, 3-18 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.

Kim Anderson enters his fourth season as Men's Basketball head coach for Pittsburg State.  Anderson came to Pittsburg State after coaching at his alma mater University of Missouri.  Anderson has a career record of 347-206 entering the 2021 season.  In his three season at Pittsburg State he has a record of 46-11 including a 17-13 record in his first season which was a 12 game improvement from the previous season.

ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 3-18 on the season, 3-18 in the MIAA.  Newman is led in scoring by Redshirt Junior guard Joel Boyce at 14.4 points per game.  Boyce also leads the Jets in rebounding at 7.0 rebounds per game. 

ABOUT THE GORILLAS
Pittsburg State is 10-11 on the season, 10-11 in the MIAA. Pittsburg State is led in scoring by Arthur Williams Jr. at 12.2 points per game.  Arthur Williams Jr. also leads the Gorillas in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the thirteenth meeting between these two schools with Pittsburg State leading the series 8-4 over Newman.

LAST TIME VS PITTSBURG STATE
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.

UP NEXT
The Jets will be back in action next year as their season has come to an end.

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. Listen along to all of the Newman Jets games on The Jets Audio Network with Blake Cripps on the call at newmanjets.com/listen. You can find all things Newman in the Newman Jets Athletics app available in both the App Store and on Google Play.