Feb. 12, 2011

Final Stats

A furious second half rally lifted Newman to an 80-77 win over Texas A&M International University in Heartland Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Fugate Gymnasium in Wichita, Kan.

Despite the loss, TAMIU (7-3 Heartland) is still in first place in the Heartland Conference standings with two regular season games left to play. The Dustdevils are a half game ahead of St. Mary's (6-3) and one game ahead of Newman (5-3).

TAMIU (17-8 overall) led by as many as 24 points in the first half against Newman (13-9) before settling for a 47-29 halftime lead. The Jets stormed back early in the second half, tying the score 54-54 on a jumper by Mason Felter at the 11:05 mark.

The Dustdevils responded with a 17-7 run to take a 71-61 lead at the 4:56 mark but the Jets stormed back again to tie it 73-73 on a 3-pointer by Keaton Schultz at the 1:20 mark.

The teams exchanged baskets at that point until Chip Stevens made two free throws to push Newman to an 80-77 lead with 10 seconds remaining in regulation. TAMIU called time out with under four seconds left to set up a game-tying shot but Newman forced a jump ball with one second left to take possession of the ball and the win.

Evan Matteson led TAMIU with 14 points and seven rebounds. Luís Gómez finished with 13 points, Scottie Payne with 12 points and Armando Brito with 11 points. Will Faiivae contributed a team-high 10 rebounds.