Page 10/The Battalion/Thursday, February 7, 1985
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Baylor’s overtime bid fails;
A&M escapes at the buzzer
By TRAVIS TINGLE
Sports Editor
Every once in awhile, there’s a
time when the outcome of a basket
ball game isn’t reflected in the final
score.
Texas A&M’s 78-74 victory over
Baylor Wednesday night was one of
those times — the game was even
closer than the four-point spread
would indicate.
With :03 seconds left in the game
and A&M leading 76-74, Carlos
Briggs missed a wide open 20-footer
off a designed play that Baylor
Coach Jim Haller called simply “the
box play.”
A&M’s Winston Crite, who was
fouled during the play, added a pair
of free throws with no time remain
ing on the clock. Thus, the Aggies
disguised a true two-point win and
handed A&M Coach Shelby Metcalf
his 200th career Southwest Confer
ence victory. Metcalf became the
only SWC coach to reach that pla
teau.
“I think (Baylor) would take the
same shot that they got; again," Met
calf said. “It just didn’t drop for
them. I didn’t want to foul because I
knew the worst we would get was
overtime. I’d rather have given them
the shot.
“I said all along it would be a close
ball game. I’ll tell you, Baylor fans
have got something to look forward
to. They really played well. I was
going to say they’re a team of the fu
ture, but it looks like the future is
now by the way they played tonight.”
The Bears (8-12, 1-8 in SWC),
who shot 59 percent from the field,
were led by Briggs’ 21 points and 19
from freshman guard Michael Wil
liams out of Dallas Carter. The Ag
gies (15-6, 7-3 in SWC) shot 55.6
percent from the floor and recieved
a 23-point night from Kenny Brown
and 15 from Todd Holloway.
“Those guys (Briggs and Wil
liams) are great athletes,” said
A&M’s Crite, who led the Aggies
with 12 rebounds. “They seem to be
able to shoot from anywhere. They
remind me of a lot of us last year.
We were hungry for wins and we
wanted some recognition.”
Metcalf said Briggs and Williams
won’t need an American Express
card the next time the Bears vistit G.
Rollie White Coliseum.
“Our biggest problem tonight was
that we couldn’t cover Michael Wil
liams,” Metcalf said. “What makes
him so tough is that you can’t foul
him. It’s just like giving him a field
goal. Briggs was under control to-
Metcalf took the
ler, one of his I
coaches, humbly.
“I appreciate Jim saying that,”
Metcalf said. “I guess I just don’t
have the personal relationships with
some people like (Arkanasas Coach)
Eddie (Sutton) does.”
What about the 200th win, coach?
By BRANDON BERRY
Sports Writer
’ He crouched next to the scorer’s
table and watched the final twelve
seconds blink onto the scoreboard.
Next, he stood up and clapped his
hands together as his team readied
to defense a narrow two-point lead.
The ball was inbounded, the second-
leading scorer in the conference was
left open from 20 feet and his shot
hit the rim and fell off.
With a shrug of his tie and a sigh
of deep relief, Shelby Metcalf
walked off a Southwest Conference
basketball court for the 200th time
as the winning coach.
“Boy, didn’t Baylor play well,”
Metcalf said. “Gosh Dawg! That sure
didn’t come easy out there.”
They rarely ever have.
Texas A&M has won five confer
ence championships in Metcalfs 22
seasons as head coach. He and the
late “Doc” Hayes of SMU are the
only coaches to win five outright
SWC Championships. His two hun
dred SWC wins are a conference re
cord, as are his 356 total victories.
His team is presently a conference
title contender with a 7-3 record.
So what did the esteemed “man of
the hour” want to talk about?
“Those Baylor fans are really in
for a treat, because they have really
got an excellent young ball club,”
Metcalf said. “They are tough.”
And what about your record,
coach?
“Did you see Winston (Crite) get
up there for that rebound,” he con
tinued. “Nobody was gonna get that
\aggieA\ s /^cinema/
1
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Nobody knew
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night. Jim (Haller) has done a great
job with and him and the whole
team, really.”
Haller said his team’s perfor
mance was the best it’s ever been, in
cluding last week’s overtime loss to
Arkansas.
“It’s a shame that we can have
four good games and two super
games in a row without more to
show for it,” Haller said. “Overall,
when you look at the team work, the
defense and our offensive flow, it
has to be our best game of the year.
And if we were playing anyone but
the second best team in the South
west Conference, we would have
won the ball game.
By <
lAggies
PS ■
“I was expecting A&M to play
well. I was expecting us to play well.
The only thing I can’t explain is how
they (A&M) lost to Arkansas twice.”
jraise from Hal-
ormer assistant
thing away from him.”
But what about the record?
“Do you guys know anything
about the score of the Arkansas-
SMU game,” Metcalf asked a group
of reporters. “And do you know who
the officials are up there? I could tell
you who’ll win if I know who (Ar
kansas Coach) Eddie’s (Sutton)
pickin’ on.”
Metcalf’s opponents sing his
f jraises far louder than any voices
ikely to be heard on the second
floor of G. Rollie White Coliseum.
“Coach Metcalfs record is truly an
indication of what kind of a coach he
really is,” Baylor Coach Jim Haller
said following Wednesday night’s
loss. “He is more than just a personal
friend of mine — he’s an excellent
coach. You don’t win five Southwest
Baylor’s Robert McLenmore
outreach Texas A&M’s Don
(22) tries to
Marbury (3)
Conference Championships without
being an excellent coach.
“His contributions to basketball in
this conference have just been tre
mendous. I’m very happy for him.”
No happier than Metcalf himself.
He has lost more than his share of
close games.
Earlier this season, two and three-
point losses to Wisconsin and Arkan
sas kept the Aggies from celebrating
at the final buzzer, as did an over
time loss to Illinois State.
In 1980, a miraculous (some say
contrived) comeback by the Arkan
sas Razorbacks spoiled an Aggie
nine-game conference winning
streak. And a last-second loss to
eventual NCAA champion Louisville
ended Metcalfs most successful year
with a final buzzer and a missed op
portunity.
“The game is for the players,” he
said. “Those guys out there on the
court may never get the chance to be
the star again m their lives. We
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So what about the record,coadB . “I g U t
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“It just means the pby ers Higust won'
won 200," Metcalf said. “You ® Hicke
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Photo by DEANS/
and A1 Pulliam (44) during the Aggies’ vic
tory over the Bears Wednesday night, 78-74
Not a losing proposition,
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