UTPB men's basketball led by as many as 14 points in the first half and later recovered from trailing by double-digits in the second half to send Thursday night's Heartland Conference game to overtime, but Newman grabbed the first lead in OT and never trailed in the extra five minute session in defeating the Falcons 98-94 in Odessa.

UTPB controlled the game early on, scoring 11 of the first 13 points to go ahead 11-2 on a dunk from Scooter Holmes. Holmes led the offensive charge early on, hitting his first five shots in making his first start of the season.

The Falcons led by as many as 14 in the first half, grabbing a 31-17 lead when Thomas Feeney hit threes on back-to-back possessions.

Newman rebounded to out-socre UTPB 12-1, cutting a 42-31 lead down to a 43-43 tie with 1:43 remaining in the half. The Jets scored the final four points of the half to send the game into halftime tied 47-47.

Newman got a big run of its own midway through the second, scoring 13 straight points over a four minute stretch to turn a 70-66 UTPB lead into a 79-70 Newman advantage.

The Jets led by as many as 10 late in the game on a Reggie Baker layup with 3:15 remaining in regulation, but the Falcons stepped up on defense and held them scoreless on their final six possessions of the second half.

Down 81-71, Phadarius Taylor hit a shot behind the arc to get within seven at 81-74 and 3:04 remaining.

Malcolm Hill-Bey hit two at the line to trail 81-76 with two minutes left on the clock, and Madison Turner hit a shot from 3-point range to get UTPB within a possession at 81-79 with 1:35 left.

Xavier Martin scored on the team's final offensive possession in the second half, grabbing a defensive rebound and dribbling the length of the court through traffic to the rim for a layup that tied the game at 81-81. Newman missed a basket with two seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime.

The Jets came out and scored right away in overtime on a steal and fatbreak layup from Reggie Baker. Newman stayed in the lead in overtime, going up by seven at 92-85 on layups from James Pegues and Bapter with 1:30 to play.

UTPB got back within a possession when Chris Griffin hit a three and Holmes put back a tip in with 1:06 remaining to trail 92-90, but Baker hit a bucket to cap Newman's next possession.

Turner gave the Falcons hope with a three to pull UTPB within a point at 94-93 and nine seconds remaining, but Ryan McCarthy hit both free throws to put Newman back ahead by three poiints.

Turner hit the front end of a one-and-one on UTPB's next possession, but Newman rebounded his missed second attempt and Jeremy Espinoza sank both free throws for a four-point win.

Holmes led six UTPB players in double-digits with 19 points, hitting 9-11 from the field on the night with seven rebounds. Griffin added 16 points and a team-high eight boards and Turner had 16 points with four 3-pointers.

McCarthy and Baker led the Jets with 24 points each and Baker had a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Falcons end the regular season at home Saturday, hosting Oklahoma Christian at 3 p.m.