The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current, February 27, 1998, Image 8
j Sports Friday • February 27, ll Turn out the lights, the agony’s ovei Last game at G. Rollie White brings closure to an A&M era, miserable season for men’s basketball tea Jeff Schmidt Staff writer The Texas A&M Men’s Basket ball Team (6-19, 0-15) will host the Baylor Bears (13-12, 8-7) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the last men’s basket ball game at G. Rollie White Coli seum. The Aggies are coming off of a 95-80 loss to Kansas State in which they tied the all-time record for consecutive conference losses of 18. Baylor clinched the fifth- seed in the Big 12 Tournament Wednesday by defeating Iowa State 69-54. The Aggies own a 110-62 series advantage against the Bears but earlier this year, Baylor beat A&M 73-64 in Waco. Sophomore guard Steve Houston was the Aggies’ leading scorer with 14 points and dished out three assists. Sophomore point guard Brian Barone did not play, the only game he has missed this season. The Bears held a one-point advantage at halftime, but the Aggies could not pull off the upset. The Bears are led by senior cen ter Brian Skinner, a second-team All-Big 12 selection last year and possible NBA first-round draft pick, and senior point guard Patrick Hunter. Skinner is averaging about 20 points a game in league play, leads the Big 12 in field-goal per centage and is second in the con ference in rebounding at nearly nine rebounds a game. Hunter has come on strong this season "I'm lli<- rest of llit* jruyv, <bey’ll b<; loobinj/ forward lo next yeal* witb the new arena,” Porter Mo’.er A variant < oa< h chipping in 13 points and four as sists a game. Roddrick Miller, son of Baylor Coach Harry Miller, av erages 12 points a game. “Baylor has two great players. They have Skinner, who’s a pro, and Hunter, who’s a confident player and makes big plays,” As sistant Coach Porter Moser said. “They are real physical inside with Skinner. Those two guys have got to be the focus point when you ROBERT MCKAY/The Battalion Junior Kim Tarkington drives to the basket in the victory against Kansas St. GREAT SUMMER JOBS!!! Camp Counselor Positions available in Western Massachusetts On Campus Interviews - Monday, March 2nd 10am - 4pm - Career Services John J. Koldus Building Counselor positions for talented and energetic students offering top salaries are open NOW for male and female applicants who would like to be a part of Camp Mah-Kee-Nac for boys or Camp Danbee for girls. Excellent Salary, Room, Board & Travel are included along with the opportunity to work with great kids this summer. Specialists needed in: Team Sports: Roller Hockey Baseball Soccer Basketball Tennis & Golf Gymnastics Figure Skating Archery & Riflery Cycling Nature/Pioneering Photography Radio Station Rocketry Woodworking Arts & Crafts Ropes & Climbing Swim Instruction Water Skiing Sailing Windsurfing Kayaking Canoeing Yearbook/Newspaper Positions run June 20th - August 19th, 1998 NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY!!! Call 1-800-753-9118 (men) or 1-800-392-3752 (women) for more information. Check out our web site: www.campmkn.com play against Baylor.” In order to defeat the Bears, the Aggies will need a well- played game from their two cen ters, Aaron Jack and Larry Thompson. Both will be used to battle Skinner and in an attempt to get him in foul trouble. Barone will play his usually solid defense against Hunter. “We have got to contain Skinner and Hunter. You can’t let those guys get five or six points above their averages,” Moser said. Another thing the Aggies must improve on if they want to stay in the game is their free-throw shooting. “Our free throw shooting was bad down the stretch at Baylor. It was the same old deal at the free throw line,” Moser said. Thompson, the team’s lone se nior will be stepping on the G. Rol lie court for the last time. “We’ve told Larry Thompson to look around and take everything in because it’s your last game at home. Enjoy every little bit of it,” Moser said. “For the rest of the guys, they’ll be looking forward to next year with the new arena. Hopefully, the guys will play a lit tle harder down the stretch.” By Michael Taglienti Staff writer The Texas A&M Basketball Team (8-17, 4-11) will take on the Baylor Bears (16-9, 9-6) Saturday at 7 p.m. in Waco. The Aggies are coming off a 81-76 defeat of the Kansas State Wildcats last Wednesday night. The Aggies have won two of their last three games and are looking to finish the season with a win. Finishing the season strong and es tablishing momentum going into the Big 12 tournament is a priority at this time of year. Coach Candi Harvey said the Baylor game is a big game. “It is a huge game. You talk about possibly winning five confer ence games, and where we’ve come in the last two weeks,” Harvey said. “Going and getting a road victory against a good in-state ri valry, you are talking about a team that could go sky high into the conference tournament. We could be pretty scary just from a con fidence standpoint.” Harvey thinks that while Baylor is a great basketball team, the Aggies have a great chance at pulling off an upset in Waco. “Baylor is an outstanding basketball team, but we know we didn’t play as well as we are capable of playing against them when we played them here at home,” Harvey said. “If we can put two halves together the way we have been doing, that game could go to the wire.” Baylor’s front line has been hit by the injury bug in the past few weeks. Baylor’s backup center Shannon Applebury and forward Nicole Palmer have recently had season-ending knee injuries. Coach Candi Harvey said their lack of depth down low could be a factor in the game. RYAN ROGERS J Junior Shanne Jones has been one of the bright spots for the Aggies this season, averaging almost 20 points pe l Texas A&M Women’s Basketball Teai closes out regular season against Bayloi “Their post depth is a little bit suspect right now with some in] and hopefully we will be able to get them in a little bit of foultro# see what we can do.” In their previous matchup this year Baylor defeated A&M85 jfij i ,4 * Harvey “ll is a huge game. YouU about possibly wi imingfi conference games and where weVe come in tin last two weeks,” that game A&M had no answer for Baylor’s 6-foot-4-inch center Moffitt. Moffitt and Baylor guard Lara Webb combined to score49|t against the Aggies that night. Baylor is coming off a 99-59 loss to the Texas Longhorns. Inthatf Texas held Baylor’s scoring tandem ofWebb and Moffitt to 29 total pi Webb was three for eighteen from the field on the way to 15 points In the previous Baylor game, Aggie sophomore forward KeraAle der scored 32 points in the loss. Alexander has had the hot hand oil scoring 33 points in Wednesday night’s victory over KSU. FINAL WEEK! Class of ’98 pictures are being taken for the Elephants! Don’t forget. 1998 Aggieland at A R Photography lexas Avenue IAMU Campus CD m o 0Q (V 03 C HID fa k 5. (between Jason’s Deli and Academy) Drop by AR Photograplf at its new location on Texas Avenue, or call 693-8183 for an appointment