Box Score AUSTIN, Texas. – St. Edward's scored 50 first-half points on the way to an 89-70 win over Heartland Conference opponent Newman on Saturday afternoon at the Recreation and Convocation Center. JAMES STUKES led the Hilltopppers with a career-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field. St. Edward's improves to 6-4 on the season and stays perfect in Heartland Conference play at 2-0.
 
St. Edward's jumped out to a 12-8 lead in the game's first four minutes. ETHAN GILBERT made a three-pointer and a jumper for five points in the opening four minutes. Newman (3-8, 0-3 HC) would get hot from behind the arc and would take a 20-18 lead at the 10-minute mark in the half. Marquis Cuyler and Trae Beck each hit a three pointer for Newman in its 12-6 run.
 
St. Edward's would go on a 32-10 run in the final 10 minutes of the first half. RAMIR BURTON scored five-straight points to give the Hilltoppers a 24-20 lead. Stukes and HARLEY NUSSMAN would combine for the next eight points to push the lead to 34-30. MATT MINER came off the bench and scored eight-straight points. CHRIS WACKER converted an offensive rebound into a layup, and St. Edward's led at halftime 50-30.  
 
Nussman converted a three-point play in the first minute of the second half to push the lead to 53-32. Shortly after, Stukes made a driving layup and drew a foul in the process. A technical foul was called on the Newman bench for arguing the call. JOHN GRAMLICH made both technical free throws and Stukes made the one free throw to give St. Edward's its largest lead at 60-34.
 
Miner continued his strong play and converted a layup with 10 minutes left to push the lead to 71-48. JOHN RUTHERFORD hit a three pointer with eight minutes left to give the Hilltoppers a 78-52 advantage. Stukes scored on two-straight trips to put St. Edward's up 85-60. The final score was 89-70.
 
Stukes was 3-for-4 from behind the arc, and also dished out a team-high three assists. Nussman provided his fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Gilbert reached double digits with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Miner added 10 points off of the bench.
 
St. Edward's owned the boards at it outrebounded Newman, 46-18. The Hilltoppers shot a season-best 57 percent from the floor and 88 percent (15-17) from the charity stripe.
 
St. Edward's will be back in action on Saturday, January 4^th when they travel to Abilene to face Heartland Conference opponent McMurry. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. at Kimball Arena. Live video and stats will be available on the McMurry Athletic Website.