Newman pulls out big conference victory

The potential of the Newman men's basketball team hasn't been lost amongst the team.

That much is obvious with the Jets surviving the first round of Heartland Conference play with one loss. Doing it a second time around is always more difficult.

But Newman showed the qualities of a winning team in its 80-71 victory over St. Mary's (Texas) on Thursday night at O'Shaughnessy Hall.

"We know we're going to get every team's best shot," Newman's Chip Steven said. "It's all about after they give us their first punch, we got to punch right back."

Basketball is a game of runs, but the good teams are the ones able to stabilize after the opponent challenges the lead. Newman virtually led the entire game and withstood multiple rallies from St. Mary's, which entered in third place in the conference.

When St. Mary's drew to within 52-51, with 13 minutes remaining, the Jets ballooned the lead right back out with three straight baskets.

"This team has consistently done that throughout the season," Newman coach Mark Potter said. "Those are the kinds of things that good basketball teams do."

Another component includes finishing games. The Jets led by at least six points down the stretch and picked up two defensive steals, took a charge and then William Burdette's thundering dunk in transition sealed the game.

And picking up defensive stops are valuable to a team such Newman, which favors shootouts.

"All we need to do is get stops," Newman's Keaton Schultz said. "We know if we can get stops, then we'll be able to score on offense. But we just need to focus on defense and rebounding better."

Those are the areas of concern for an otherwise solid team.

When a team loses the rebounding battle by 10, as Newman did 40-30, many cannot make up the deficit.

But with scorers such as Schultz (17 points) and Steven (14), the Jets can get by.

"But we shouldn't have to rely on making that up," Steven pointed out.

Newman succeeded with a spread-out attack, finishing with five in double-figures. The Jets played without starting point guard Jake Darby, who was out with an illness, but the team was able to hide it well.

With a 13-8 assist-to-turnover ratio, Newman (15-4, 8-1) was able to control the tempo, find good shots (43.4 percent for the game) and maintain its lead.

St. Mary's lone counter was with guard Curtis Mitchell, who was never contained. He finished with a game-high 28 points.

But outside of Mitchell, St. Mary's offense sputtered when it mattered. And that — getting stops in the clutch — is all that matters to Potter.

"I thought definitely tonight we were much better than we have been all year long," Potter said. "We got consistent stops down the stretch and never really let them get too close. I'm just overall pleased with our overall toughness.

ST. MARY'S (10-9, 5-4): Ward 3-9 0-0 6, Hubenak 2-6 0-0 4, Kotzur 5-9 2-2 12, Mitchell 8-17 9-10 28, Lee 5-12 2-6 13, Steinbaugh 0-0 0-2 0, Castro 0-1 0-0 0, Campbell 1-1 0-0 2, Fonteneaux 3-6 0-1 6. Totals 27-61 13-21 71.

NEWMAN (15-4, 8-1): Mathews 4-7 2-2 13, Berry 5-9 1-2 11, Schultz 3-6 9-10 17, Steven 5-13 1-2 14, Jackson 1-3 2-4 4, Honore 0-2 2-2 2, Nordman 0-0 0-0 0, Burdette 3-7 4-4 12, Northington 2-3 1-2 5, Brumbelow 0-3 2-2 2. Totals 23-53 24-30 80.

Halftime—Newman 41, St. Mary's 36. 3 pt. shooting—St. Mary's 4-12 (Mitchell 3-7, Lee 1-4, Ward 0-1); Newman 10-24 (Mathews 3-6, Steven 3-9, Burdette 2-3, Schultz 2-4, Jackson 0-1, Honore 0-1). Rebounds—St. Mary's 40 (Hubenak 11); Newman 30 (Mathews 8). Assists—St. Mary's 8 (Mitchell 4); Newman 13 (Honore 3). A—423.

Newman women — The Jets had two chances to take the lead in the final 30 seconds but came up empty.

Monique Pitts had 10 points and nine rebounds to lead Newman.

ST. MARY'S (15-5, 7-1): Sophus 0-0 0-0 2, Bailey 1-2 3-4 5, Noble 1-7 1-3 3, Boyd 0-5 3-4 3, Williams 6-16 2-6 15, Jacobs 1-2 0-0 2, Patterson 3-5 0-0 6, Endres 0-1 0-0 0, James 0-2 1-2 1, Moeller 1-5 1-2 3, Phillips 1-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-46 11-21 40.

NEWMAN (5-14, 3-5): Forshee 3-5 0-0 7, Brockleman 0-1 2-4 2, Freeman 3-9 0-0 8, Pitts 4-11 2-5 10, Nickel 0-2 0-0 0, Brockleman 0- 0-0 0, Norwood 0-3 1-2 1, Traylor 0-0 0-0 0, Nachbor 2-3 1-2 5, Leinberger 2-3 0-2 4, Teeter 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 14-38 7-17 38.

Halftime—Newman 22, St. Mary's 19. 3-point shooting—St. Mary's 1-10 (Williams 1-2,Noble 0-3, Boyd 0-4, Patterson 0-1), Newman 3-10 (Freeman 2-7, Forshee 1-1, Nickel 0-1, Leinberger 0-1). Rebounds—St. Mary's 36 (Bailey 8), Newman 35 (Pitts 9). Assists—St. Mary's 9 (Noble, Boyd, Patterson, James 2), Newman 9 (Leinberger 5).