William Jewell College Athletics

The William Jewell Cardinals men's basketball team fell to Newman University in a back-and-forth, up-tempo 79-76 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Mabee Center.
 
The Cardinals held the lead for much of the up-tempo first half, but the Jets scored six points in the last ten seconds to turn the momentum and take a 35-34 lead into the half. Newman held the lead until the Cardinals tied the game on a three-pointer by Javier De La Blanca with six minutes to play. However, Newman would hold the lead for the rest of the game, as the Cardinals would claw within one point on multiple occasions, but never take the lead.
 
Both teams shot well from the outside, with the Jets making ten three point shots to the Cardinals eight three-pointers. Poor free throw shooting plagued the Cardinals, as they only shot 58% from the free throw line.
 
Once again, Darius Tomlin led the Cardinals' offensive attack, scoring 22 points. Javier De La Blanca and Matt Lassen each contributed to the effort, scoring 18 and 15 points, respectively.
 
The Cardinals struggled to stop Gavin Thurman, who led Newman in scoring with 27 points. James Pegues chipped in 13 points for the Jets.
 
The loss drops the Cardinals to 2-5 on the season. With the win, Newman moves to 7-1 on the year.
 
The Cardinals return to action at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 15, as they take on Ottawa University in a non-conference matchup at the Mabee Center.