By Sydney Endicott, Photographer
The Newman men's basketball team lost its Jan. 18 game vs. Missouri Western with a score of 58-97. But one player will always remember that game.
A three-pointer he made during the road game helped junior Stevie Strong hit 1,000 career points and become the first Newman Jet to do so since the school started playing in Division II.
“It was really a bittersweet feeling knowing that you have a great accomplishment, but we ended up losing the game,” Strong said.
Strong, who scored 15 points in that game, said the accomplishment didn’t register right away. When it happened, there was still 15:45 remaining in the first half. “I was really just thinking about the rest of the game since it happened at the beginning of the game,” he said.
Strong turned down a Division 1 offer in 2021 and chose to play at Newman. His high school career started at University Academy in Kansas City, but he transferred to Campus High School in Haysville. He averaged 24.4 points per game during his high school career, and during his junior year, he was named the Missouri Class 3 Boys Player of the Year.
Strong said that many things have played a part in his college success, including “a lot of practice in the gym, sacrifices and my teammates.”
The men’s basketball team is sitting with a 6-14 record this year. But Strong said he sees himself as someone who helps his teammates cope with the highs and lows. His role, he said, is “keeping the team together through the ups and downs throughout the season.”
Newman’s men will face Fort Hays State on the road tonight.
PHOTO: Courtesy photo, Newman Athletics
