JOPLIN, MO - Men's Basketball was unable to pick up their second conference win of the season against Missouri Southern. For the second straight game, Newman went down by multiple scores early and was unable to recover. 

While starting out well enough with the Jets being able to maintain the pace through most of the half, the Lions scored every point but 2 in the final minutes of the 1st half, which gave them a lead just shy of 20 points. 

Stevie Strong was the main man for Newman once again, and continued his impressive season getting some big buckets in the half to help the Jets stay competitive for a good portion of the game. 

The Jets would take a one point lead at one point in the half, but it surprisingly the only time they held an advantage over the Lions, who led for nearly the entire game. 

Smith and Stevie Strong scored the first five points of the second to try and spark a fire that Newman needed, but it was not enough to start an already tough comeback attempt. 

Strong would get nearly all of his points in the second half, getting 15 on the day. Smith lead all scorers with 21. 

The contest was largely decided by the amount of shots that went for the Lions, who shot 76.92% from the field in the last period. 

Besides the Stevie duo, no one other than Latik Murphy had all that much of an impressive day. 

Freshman Devin Walker made his collegiate debut in the second half tonight, going three of four and scoring nine points. 

The Jets will return home next week, hosting Nebraska-Kearney and Fort Hays State to end 2023.