Monday, January 27, 1986AThe Battalion/Page 11
a
Sports
Aggies remain SWC front-runner
Photo by DEAN SAITO
A&M guard Gary Lewis (right) and Rice guard Michael Irving G. Rollie White. By virtue of their 68-55 win over the Owls, the Ags
scramble for control of the ball in the first half of Saturday’s game at remain alone in first in the Southwest Conference with a 6-1 record.
A&M uses
2nd half
to rip Rice
By CHAREAN WILLIAMS
Assistant Sports Editor
Texas A&M offered two versions
of its basketball team Saturday af
ternoon in a Southwest Conference
game against Rice.
In the first half, it was the bad
news bears that showed up in the
maroon and white. But in the second
half, the real Aggies appeared and
saved the day for 6,466 at G. Rollie
White Coliseum.
The Ags (12-7 overall, 6-1 in
SWC) remained alone in first-place
in the conference by virtue of their
68-55 victory over the last-place
Owls (8-10, 1-6).
“Texas A&M has a better team
than we do and played better than
we did,” Rice Coach Tommy Suitts
said. “That’s the reason they won.”
But in the first half, it looked as if
the Owls were the league leaders.
In the first half, Rice pulled down
13 offensive rebounds to A&M’s 16
total, resulting in a 32-30 Owl lead at
the break.
“That’s the third time in a row
we’ve played well in the first half,
and poorly in the second half,” Suitts
said. “I did think we played very well
in the first half. They played some
zone in the first hall, which opened
the perimeter shot for us.”
At halftime, the A&M football
team was honored for its 1985 SWC
Championship. The basketball team
must nave decided they liked the
way SWC Champions sounded.
The Aggies scored the first eight
points to start the second half, taking
a 38-32 lead they would never relin
quish.
With 4:57 left, the Aggies had
built their lead to 17.
From there, it was slam, jam and
dunk for the Ags.
“It wasn’t the prettiest game, I
know that,” A&M Coach Shelby
Metcalf said. “We played a good sec
ond half. That’s when we needed to.
“Rice really took the game to us in
the first half. I was very disap
pointed in the way we played in the
first half. I hope that was the real
A&M team in the second half.”
As if Metcalf didn’t have enough
to worry about on the court, his
starting guards gave him something
to worry about off the court.
Friday, The Dallas Times Herald
published a story stating that A&M’s
Don Marbury and Todd Holloway
had been arrested for possession of
marijuana.
“This game really scared
going in,” Metcalf said. “We just
weren’t excited about it. We’ve had
some distractions.”
In that forgettable first half for
the Ags, Marbury and Holloway
could do little right, which probably
did nothing to relieve Metcalfs anxi-
Marbury, the conference’s leading
scorer, could muster only four
points on two of eight from the field
while Holloway hit two of six shots
and six total points.
If it hadn’t been for forward
Winston Crite and center Jimmie
Gilbert, the Ags might have been
more than two points down at the
half.
And in the second half, while
Crite and Gilbert continued to pump
in the points and pull down the
boards, Marbury and Holloway got
hot.
Marbury was the game’s leading
scorer with 19 points, Gilbert had 17
points (and nine rebounds), Crite 15
(10 rebounds) and Holloway fin
ished with 12.
“In the first half, I think we were
just trying too hard,” Holloway said.
“Once we settled in and started to
play our game, that is when we went
on our stretch.
“We came out fired up. I didn’t
feel any pressure from the extra
publicity.”
Meanwhile, the Owls were hurt by
their inability to score in the second
half, getting only 23 total points in
the last 20 minutes.
“We’re just not shooting well right
now,” Suitts said. “We have to put
the ball into the hole better than we
did today. We shot the exact same
(33.3 percent from the field) against
Arkansas last Saturday. You can’t
win shooting like that.”
0
Suitts said he was impressed with
the play of the Aggies.
“Texas A&M is a very good team,”
Suitts said. “They certainly have a
chance to have the best team in the
league. If they continue to improve,
they could win the conference race.
“If I had to pick one team to win
the league right now, I would pick
A&M.”
But the Aggies will have to play
better in the first half of the rest of
their games if they have any postsea
son plans, beginning with Wednes
day night’s home contest against Ar
kansas.
“We really need to beat Arkan
sas,” Metcalf said. “They’ve got some
good athletes. I’m not going to
worry about any of the other teams
until we play them. But I hope they
all beat each other up.”
If the rest of the conference does
that, and the real A&M shows up for
the full 60 minutes in the rest of the
games, the Aggies can pack their
bags and take their show nationwide.
me_ ety.
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