WICHITA - Men's Basketball returned back to Fugate Wednesday to host the Pittsburg State Gorillas in their first home MIAA game of the season. Despite poor shooting from the Jets, they were able to keep it close and only fell in the last few minutes during a tight back and forth sequence.

The Jets got off to a swift 8-4 lead capped off by a slam from Sam Somerhalder. The Freshman took on a new role for the night, running the point for Newman and mixing things up offensively. Newman kept the lead for the majority of the first half, with Pitt State not getting their first lead until 14 minutes in. After fighting back and forth with makes from Stevie Strong and Latik Murphy keeping them in the mix, the Jets went into halftime down by just three.

The second half would play out similar to the first, but with the sides flipped as Newman were the ones trailing this time. Poor shooting hampered the Jets badly this half, with the team only shooting 28% from the field. Despite this, Newman would keep finding ways to make it close and the game ended with free throws as the Jets hung on and tried to create an opportunity to win, bringing themselves to just a one point deficit twice in the last two minutes. Ultimately, Pitt State would hold out on defense and the Jets fell 69-64.

Sam Somerhalder led the team in assists with five during his first outing running point for the team. He also was one of the most efficient shooters, splitting that title with Khaleem Bennett as they both shot 50% from the field.

Even with some heavy defense being played on him, Stevie Strong still managed to lead the team in scoring with 16 as he fought his way to the free throw line where he shot 8-9.

Latik Murphy also continued his streak of reaching double digits for the Jets, scoring 12 on the night.

Newman will be back in action at Fugate this Saturday, December 10th at 3:30 PM where they'll face Missouri Southern (4-4).