Game #14
Newman Jets (2-11, 2-11 MIAA) at Fort Hays State Tigers (5-8, 5-8 MIAA)
Thursday, Feb. 4 • 7:30 P.M. Hays, Kan. • Gross Memorial Coliseum
Series Record: FHSU leads series 13-2 Last Meeting: Dec. 12^th, 2020 FHSU 81 NU 75 in Wichita, Kan.
Internet Audio: Newmanjets.com/listen Internet Video: themiaanetwork.com/newman
Up Next: at Nebraska Kearney • Sat. Feb. 6 • 4:00 P.M. • Kearney, Neb.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Emporia State (8-7,8-7) would start the game on a 10-2 run before a couple free throws by Ian Lee would stop the Hornets run a little under four minutes into the contest. After back to back baskets by DeAndre Johnson cut the Emporia State lead to two, 10-8 with just over thirteen minutes left to play in the opening half, the Hornets would close out the half on a 30-15 run to take a 17 point lead into the intermission.  The Hornets would come out in the second half and continue to control the contest as they would outscore the Jets 49-36 and push their lead to as many as 33 points on their way to a 89-59 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 2-11, 2-11 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.

Mark Johnson enters his 20th season as head coach of the Fort Hays State University Men's basketball program in 2020-21. He is the all-time coaching wins leader in FHSU history with a career record of 373-186, ranking among the Top 30 active NCAA Division II men's basketball coaches in winning percentage (.667). Johnson has led the Tigers to seven NCAA Tournament appearances in his time at FHSU.

ABOUT THE JETS
Newman is 2-11 on the season, 2-11 in the MIAA.  Newman is led in scoring by Redshirt Junior guard Joel Boyce at 13.8 points per game.  Boyce also leads the Jets in rebounding at 6.8 rebounds per game. 

ABOUT THE TIGERS
Fort Hays State is 5-8 on the season, 5-8 in the MIAA. Fort Hays State is led in scoring by Jared Vitztum at 17.9 points per game. Jared Vitztum also leads the Tigers in rebounding at 9.8 rebounds per game.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the 16^th meeting between these schools with the Tigers leading the series 13-2 over Newman.

LAST TIME VS FORT HAYS STATE
The Tigers would start this game on a 10-4 run before the Jets would go on a 9-0 run to gain a 13-10 lead with 10:30 left in the first half.  Both teams would then exchange baskets and the Jets would have a 6 point lead after a jumper by Ian Lee to have a 25-19 lead with 6:24 left in the first half.  With the Jets leading by 5 with 3:04 left in the first half, the Tigers would end the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 4 point lead going into intermission, 35-31.  Early in the second half, the Jets would get their biggest lead of the game after a fast break dunk by Joel Boyce put the Jets up by seven points with 14:41 left in regulation.  After FHSU fought back into the game and a few lead changes, Ian Lee would give the Jets the lead back with a three point basket 63-62 with 2:45 left. Fort Hays State would then score the next five points to gain a 4 point lead with 1:54 left, 67-63. Joel Boyce would make a couple free throws to cut the Tigers lead to two and after Fort Hays St. made one of two free throws, Joel Boyce would make a huge three point basket to tie the game at 68 with 27 seconds left.  The Tigers had a chance to end the game with a free throw, but would miss it sending the game to overtime.  In the overtime, neither team was gaining much separation with the biggest lead being five in favor of Fort Hays State. The Jets missed crucial shots down the stretch as the Tigers would come into Wichita and leave victorious, 81-75.

UP NEXT
The Jets will travel to Kearney, Nebraska on Saturday, Feb. 6 to take on Nebraska Kearney with tip-off at 4:00 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. 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.