JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - The Jets Men's Basketball team began MIAA conference play on the road Thursday night. The team faced off against the Lincoln Blue Tigers in the first of two matchups with Missouri teams this week. After climbing back from an early deficit, Newman would keep things close all game, but would eventually fall 58-59. 

The first half started rough, with the Jets falling behind as Lincoln went on an 11-2 run to start the game. Stevie Strong finally halted that with a pull up three to bring it back to a two possession game. Newman proceeded to tie up the game with a layup from Sam Somerhalder and a four point play by Ian Lee. 

After coming out of halftime down by one, the Jets would go back and forth with Lincoln, only ever trailing by as much as six with multiple lead changes in between. The free throw line ended up being a major player in the game, with Newman shooting 23 and Lincoln shooting 32. After a stressful final few minutes, the Jets would cut the lead down to four, but a costly turnover meant a chance to tie the game was nearly impossible, and after a late Stevie Strong three, Newman fell by just one point.

Ian Lee was the Jets leading scorer for the night, putting up double digits by halftime and ending the game with 19, with seven of those points coming from free throws. 

Stevie Strong and Latik Murphy would both also reach double digits, scoring g 13 and 10 respectively.

Khaleem Bennett co-led the team in rebounds with eight and also notched three blocks.

The Jets will be back in action this Saturday, December 3rd at 3 PM when they take on Central Missouri in Warrensburg.