Index: Section B
jkports 2B; Classified 6B; Opinion 7B
Tliursday, February 15, 2001
ax
)Ve< Rucker
rehired as
B coach
Sports
Page IB
THE BATTALION
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iTAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
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no tax is a Co®
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ingtheuseof
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ture incoming L_
rraditiondlvH ^ en R uc k er » w h° served as run-
n it conies to® ^ ac ^ s coac h at Texas A&M
pom 1994-1997, was hired again by
ead coach R.C. Slocum Wednesday,
ucker will return to his duties as the
inning backs coach.
Rucker served stints as the line-
acker coach at the University of Al
bania and the special teams coach at
lie University of North Carolina,
” d • P unter set a school record
- ^ Di'ICt'Bnd won All-America honors.
^Ilfpnant Rucker said one of the reasons he
* lWl t| l ‘Bas returned to A&M is for his family.
UiltV tO “I’m excited to be back in Ag-
^Bieland,” Rucker said. “I left A&M
i in assail b ecause of family, and it’s because of
(AP) — a iMimily that I have returned.”
ast Texasfec-i Seven of Rucker’s teams have
d Wednestj3® vancec I to * :)0W I games, including
) approving® 6 Aggi es ' appearances in the
;r up assault®95 Alamo Bowl and the 1998
â– Hotton Bowl.
II 34 plea-' ' ^â–  en Rucker is an outstanding
to conspiracfi 036 ^ anc I we are ver y Phased to
e before ® ave him back,” Slocum said. "He
ge Wendall FflN a § reat J 0 * 3 tor us as a coac h, re-
ic.m woodfc® u ‘ te ^ extrem ely well and was a
r the U.S. Ati g real representative of Texas A&M.
| , r|limon j 1 am delighted he has returned.”
aid Small, al|
vith the fedr
ons, supervise
Beaumont peife
Ags sweat out 81-78
victory over UT-PA
A&M junior guard Andy Leatherman
goes up for a lay-up during the Aggies'
BERNARDO GARZA/The Battalion
81 -78 defeat of UT-Pan American on
Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
By Doug Puentes
The Battalion
Texas A&M men’s basketball coach
Melvin Watkins’ sigh of relief said it all after
the Aggies defeated the University of Texas-
Pan American Broncs, 81-78, Wednesday
night at Reed Arena.
The Aggies were coming off two straight
victories in the Big 12 Conference, but were
forced to step out of conference against the
Broncs, a dangerous team that boasted the
nation’s top 3-point shooter in Brian Merri-
weather.
A&M kept Merriweather under wraps, but
could not account for Mire Chatman, who al
most willed the Broncs to victory with his 31
points and nine rebounds.
“I knew they would come in thinking they
could beat us,” Watkins said. “Those guys were
capable of having big nights. Matter of fact, we
thought it would be Merriweather, because be
fore the game we told the team he could get 40
points if they don’t guard him.
“Instead it was Chapman who almost got 40.
We guarded at him, not on him.”
The Broncos had a chance to steal the game
toward the end, thanks to the Aggies’ poor free-
throw shooting. A&M only hit 5-of-12 free
throws in the last 1:25 of the game, giving Chat
man and Merriweather a chance to pull it out.
Sophomore guard Bernard King hit l-of-2
free throws to make it a 79-75 game with 13
seconds left.
Chatman rebounded the King miss and
pushed it up the court, where he found Merrir
weather, who drained a 3-pointer to make it a
79-78 game with nine seconds left.
On the inbound play, UT-Pan American
quickly fouled junior guard Andy Leatherman.
Leatherman calmly stepped up the the freer
throw line and drained both shots to make it an
81-78 game.
The Broncs had one last chance, but the last.:
second 3-point attempt by Matt Hall fell short,
giving the Aggies the victory.
“What happened to us tonight has happened
all year,” said UT-Pan American coach BoS
Hoffman. “We fought on the road, but jusjt
couldn’t close it out in the end. We outfe*-
bounded them, and I thought we outhustled
those guys even though we didn’t get the win.”
Despite the Aggies’ poor free-throw shoot
ing, they managed to stay in the game thanks to
a hot-shooting second half.
After a poor shooting first half, in which
A&M shot 37.9 percent, the Aggies shot a tor
rid 56.7 percent in the second half to finish at
47.5 percent for the game.
It was the fourth straight game that the Ag
gies shot better than 45 percent from the floor.
Leading the Aggies in the second half was
sophomore forward Keith Bean.
Bean played only five minutes in the first
See Sweat on Page 3B.
y Mike Btadf(to Y Ama()
ggies fall in extra innings to SWT, 3-1
be Battalion
y federal <
ig a seriesoffl
hat took placel F° 0 * me once > shame on you. Fool me
rectional lnst:| vice ’ shame on me.”
nit over sevet F° r i* 16 Texas A&M softball team, the
Biird time is what did it in.
to say howntc 1 Three Aggie errors combined with an
ssaulted orb<fpP ortun istic opponent spelled defeat for
He said nonelf 1 ® Aggies on Wednesday night, as the
> (jfe-threatenfqouthwest Texas State Bobcats defeated
3-1, in eight innings at the Aggie
joftball Complex.
_J The loss ended the Aggies five-game
L vanning streak.
The Bobcats first struck in the third in-
ing when junior outfielder Perri Yarbor-
ugh reached base on an infield error.
Yarborough scored later in the inning
fter the Aggies’ second throwing error of
me inning.
I It did not take long for the Aggies to
E
counter punch. In the bottom of the fourth
frame, junior first basemerf Kelly Fergu
son started a rally with a single.
Freshman pitcher Lindsay Wilhelmson
drove in Ferguson later in the inning with
a single to right field.
Wilhelmson surrendered only four hits
in her first seven innings on the motjnd.
Lightning struck for the third time in
the eighth inning, when another Aggie er
ror sparked a Bobcat rally.
The error, coupled with three Bobcat
hits, accounted for two runs.
With the win, the Bobcats improve to
10-2, and the Aggies fall to 7-2.
“I would be surprised if [Southwest
Texas State] is not ranked in the top 25 this
week,” said A&M softball coach Jo Evans.
“We walk away thinking that we should
have won 1-0 in seven innings.”
The Bobcats used junior pitcher Jessi
ca Chase and freshman reliever Nicole
Neuerburg to hold the Aggies to a season-
low one run on nine hits.
Freshman outfielder Kristen Zaleski
reached base three times after going 3-4
from the plate.
For the Aggies, senior Hollee Hayden
and sophomore Crystal Martin chipped in
with two base hits each.
The Aggies return to action Friday, in
the Verizon Aggie Invitational.
The Aggies will play host to the likes
of No. 5 Alabama, Penn State University
and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at the Ag
gie Softball Complex.
“We’re going to pick up right where we
left off before tonight,” Wilhelmson said.
“It is the little things that are going to get
us where we want to go. We’re a compet
itive team and we will always come ready
to play.”
The Aggies will open tournament play
against Alabama at 3:30 p.m.
CODYWAGES/Thh Battalion
A&M sophomore catcher Selena Collins attempts to tag Southwest Texas State
outfielder Sarah Youngdale at home during the Aggies' 3-1 loss to the Bobcats.
Open Forum
February, 15 MSC 292A
2:00 to 3:30 p.m.
ITSSTAFFFMMIW
Dr Southerland, VP Student Affairs, student leaders, and
representatives from each of the 6 Task Forces will be present to describe how
Bonfire 2002 is being planned and to answer your questions.
Come share your thoughts and express your opinions concerning Bonfire 2002!
Check Updates and
Submit Feedback at
http://stud0ntaffairs.tamu.0du/bonfir0O2
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Odoices
4112 East 29th, Bryan XV<
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and be connected to the nearest clinic
O Planned Parenthood®
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www.pphouston.org
affordable
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Hi
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Friends of Sterling C. Evans Library
8th Annual Fun Run
Saturday, February 24,8001- 9 a.m.
8K Run/IMUe Fitness Walk
The SK Run and 1 Mile Fitness Walk will begin in the parking lot behind
the Wehner Business Administration Building on the west campus of Texas A&M,
College Station, Texas.
EARLY REGISTRANTS WILL RECEIVE T-SHIRTS AND OTHER GIFTS!!
lee gnrtfi GREATPRIZES!!
Entries after February 14,2001
*12.00 for youths & college students and *15.00 for adults
Packet pick-up and late registration will be held at the MSC on February 23,2001
from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.
/
U,
Any questions, please call Adeile at 862-4574.
Return entries and/or registration fee to: Sterling C. Evans library,
Adminstration Office, 2nd Floor - Adeile Hedleston
or register online at www.evansnm.com
Sponsored by. H.EB. Pantry Foods JAMU Athletic Department,
The 12th Man Foundation, Optima Systems, Inc., AcWam Construction Co., Inc.
David Gardner’s Jewelers, AG. Edwards & Sons, Inc., AerofH, First National Bank, KTSR • WTAW
am