Sports SECTION THE BATTALION Tuesday, January 22, 2002 gs outlast Bears, 63-60 keys big by Aggies rk I By True Brown THE BATTALION srs I S iUmluN \ the Texas ret flNl men’s basketball team may been the biggest of the season. OQ(t Efl 63-60 victory over Baylor was ■ only A&M’s first in nearly a 1-aundercd With, it was also the first confer- Hens Shirts |ici- win (or the struggling \ggies Cf ' < . t ' » ^ § Wf JBr ' & " j. B-i i I jBr ■fhis ^ m is so important," said i.,.* f4LjL3w ' r(ru '" v !,&■ ’ coach Melvin Watkins. J J^■'0^* , i i \ .m Min, w' - 11 base Ivcn ^oikmc It.ml m jB K23-2392 Wtioc. aiul the best rew aril is to get a ^Cry l'~- in. We \e been going some tough JB Bes to get that smii and it ma\ have W j < ^ eet S Bie u ith i , to-.id tnel\ helps Blow the Aggies got the win is * Will> important ^ ^ ^t Ji&M had tom pla\ers W; ^^BHBpp^^.'. - Jfiig j^K . Ible figures, including junior for- f .- '? r " T Jd Keith Bean's double-double. tFE&PtbidflE flm Aggies posted their fifth highest ^cuza spa , e ] ( g 0a ] p ercenta g e 0 f t he season. i ’6.00 ,'Hng on 47.9 percent. Meanwhile, , r „ , « JBlor (12-6, 2-3) had just one player * i co » eot i more than 10 points. tg i»Mean led A&M with 15 points and ^ f f stuart villanueva-the battalion Ml m^B^Bebounds senior guard Andy Leatherman tries to pass around Baylor s R.T. Guinn during the -U.UU I c , s ' . , , Aggies’63-60 win Saturday. Leatherman scored eight points and had four assists. ;| fit you look at the last two or three -u! up ^■es, Keith has been playing pretty “We challenged [Jackson | before gave the Aggies their first lead when th„ io..mo«o»i, fc*d, Watkins said. ‘We need to keep the game to come out and be aggres- he hit a 3-pointer six minutes into the -jim going. We’ve talked to him about sive,” Watkins said. “He did an second half, and the Aggies never aggressive and being ready, excellent job of being very conscious trailed again. s starl ' n £ to l' sten an d good things of where [Lucas] was and making Roberts, Baylor’s biggest inside Hire starting to happen for him.” sure that if he got something, he had threat, was hampered by foul trouble ■ M » ASS* es h e *d Lawrence to work for it.” throughout the game and fouled out l/VL ® erts and John Lucas * Baylor’s Baylor started the game hot, tak- with 8:46 remaining. Roberts’limited 5 two leading scorers, to a combined ing an early 20-10 lead. A&M found pi a y allowed the Aggies to dominate I llpoints. Junior guard Bradley its shooting touch in the closing min- the Bears in the painL out rebounding Jackson played 33 minutes, blanket- utes of the first half and trailed by six ,ng Lucas and holding him to his points at the break, 34-28. | J|est point output since Dec. 21. Sophomore guard Dylan Leal Sec Bean on page 6B ONTH ITED mers Onty. 31-02 EGE STATION ?) 693-5555 Rock Prairie Rd. jirie Center Offenses come up big in divisional playoffs PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bill Cowher’s forte as a player was special teams. His area of expertise as an assistant coach was defense. So what did the Pittsburgh coach want to talk about Monday? The Steelers’ offense. “We’ve always been a team that says, ’We’re going to run the foot ball.’ There was never any question we could do that,” Cowher said as he began preparation for Sunday’s AFC title game against New England. “But if we have to throw the football, there’s a confidence about that now. The confidence that’s always been there on defense is there on offense right now.” That was one of the anomalies about this weekend’s games to determine the conference finalists: The Steelers and Rams, the heavy favorites to be playing in the Super Bowl a week from Sunday, both won thanks to top production from The road to the Super Bowl At amew EST Wild-card round N Y. Jett 24 Oakland 13 Jtex 19 New England New England 16 (OT) Sunday Jun 27 t290t>iu(C8ii> Baltimore 10 » so. at Putaburgh Sunday. Fob 3, ty tfipm tFOX) -Vi At New Orf&ans AFC champion va. NFC champion Wild-card round Tampa Bay 9 Jan 12 Philadelphia 31 Son Francisco 15 j Jan 13 Green Boy 2S PhUadolphio 33 J*n 10 Chicago 19 SOURCE Awcwtvd Pft* their perceived weaknesses. The offensive-minded Rams play much better defense than they’re given credit for. Similarly, the defen sive-minded Steelers are good on offense, too. St. Louis, playing in its dome, was an early 11 1/2-point favorite over Philadelphia, which it beat in overtime on the road on opening day. The Steelers were 7 1/2-point favorites over New England. Both seem to be peaking at the right time. The Rams beat Green Bay 45-17 Sunday, but the .surprise wasn’t so much the 45 points as the way they came: 28 off six interceptions on a day when the offense had its worst game statistically this season, with just 292 yards from scrimmage. “It’s a great luxury when you don’t always have to make big plays,” said Kurt Warner, who usually makes a bundle of them. The Steelers held Baltimore to just 150 yards — under 100 in the first three quarters — in their 27-10 victo ry, which eliminated the defending champions. t That kind of defense is standard from these Steelers. But Pittsburgh also made big plays on offense — particularly early, help ing it open a 20-0 lead. Amos Zereoue, pressed into service when a shot to relieve the pain in Jerome Bettis’ injured groin hit the wrong nerve, ran for 12 yards on the first play from scrimmage. That set the tone for a game in which the Steelers moved the ball well. “A lot of people don’t understand what we can do with the offense,” said Hines Ward, whose 94 receptions See NFL on page 6B ean Spa cure 20 3 p.m. c to Total Tan %/ West Side Entrance Now Open • E-Z ACCESS!!!-NEW Westside Entrance—Rec Members may 1 enter the Rec Center through the Backyard West Side ^ Entrance (facing Reed Arena), Monday-Friday from / 11:30am-11:00pm. For the most up-to-date campus parking I information call PTTS at 862-PARK. Get A Great Iob With Rec Sports 'Maintenance Assistants—Help maintain Rec Sports facilities. ] Applications available in room 202. •Personal Trainers Needed—Help shape healthier Aggies! I Applications are available in room 202 and current Personal I Trainer/CPR Certification is required. •Intramural Officials—No experiefice necessary. Make I money working flexible hours, meeting new people, .and j receive paid training! Attend an orientation clinic to be ; h i red. , Orientation Clinic Date/Time/Location Basketball Jan. 22/7:00pm/281 Rec 1 Slow Pitch Softball Jan. 28/7:00pm/281 Rec I Outdoor Soccer Jan. 28/7:00pm/281 Rec I Sand Volleyball Feb. 11/7:00pm/281 Rec I 4-on~4 Flag Football Feb. 1 8/7:00pm/281 Rec •Multimedia Marketing Assistant—Powerpoint, Photoshop and ■ other multimedia skills sought. Applications in room 202. •Photographers Needed—Great portfolio building opportunity! 1 Applications available, room 202, 845-1001 for more info. •Lifeguards Needed—Get a great job in a setting you love! J Applications are available in room 202. For more information I contact Elizabeth Caraway at 862-4968. Get Fit With Fitness & Classes • UNLIMITED Aerobics Passes—On sale now at Member Services for $50. Have unlimited access to our always con venient, always fun classes. Over 90 classes are offered each week! Please note that new and replacement ID cards cost $55. • FREE Healthy Living Lectures—All lectures are held in the Student Rec Center room 281 at 5:30pm. First lecture is January 30th-Triathlon Training. • Personal Training Sessions—Your goals can become a reality with our help! Check out our competitive rates starting at $30 for two sessions for one person. We also offer competitive partner rates. Please drop by Member Services for more infor mation or to sign up. •Triathlon Training Program—This 8 week program is geared to the novice and fitness enthusiast that wants to train for a 'sprint' distance triathlon that includes a 500 meter swim, 18.6 mile bike ride and a 3.1 mile run. Registration opens lanuary 30th at 8:00pm. There is an informational meeting January 30th at 6:30pm in room 272. Sign up early, program limited to 50 people.' Make A Splash With Aquatics •Adult Learn To Swim—Learn to swim in a comfortable envi ronment. Register January 14th-March17th. Classes will be held March 18th-28th or May 13th-23rd from 7:30-8:15 p.m.Cost starts at $25 for Rec Members. •FREE!-Polar Bear Club—The 'Polar Bear Club' is a self-paced aquatics fitness program. Get Value @ A&M Golf Course •Need a Competitive Outlet?—Our Intramura include several classes of play for all skill levels. offerings Program Pre-Season Basketball Basketball Outdoor Soccer Slow Pitch Softball (M&W) Wallyball Registration Jan. 22-Jan. 29 Jan. 22-Jan. 29 Jan. 28-Feb. 5 Jan. 28-Feb. 5 Jan. 28-Feb. 5 Cost $10/team $ 40/team $ 40/team $ 40/team $10/team TAMU vacation Explore With TAMU Outdoors •UNIQUE Spring Break Trips!—Sign up today at Outdoors for these unique and competitively priced ’ packages. • Upcoming Events Registration Event Date Intro Rock Climbing Jan. 16-Jan. 24 Jan. 26 Late Nite Rock Show Night of Event Jan. 29 Lead Climbing Jan. 22-Feb. 4 Feb. 5 Women's Rock Climbing Jan. 22-Feb. 14 Feb. 16 Backpacking Trip Jan. 22-Feb. 19 Feb. 22-24 Caving Day Trip Jan. 22-Feb. 19 Feb. 23 •Rec Center Rock Wall—Come climb to the highest point in the Texas A&M University Rec Center. One of the tallest climbing walls on any university campus is waiting for you! Hours of Operation Sunday-Thursday climb from 2:00pm-10:00pm Friday climb from 2:00pm-8:00pm Saturday climb from 12:00pm noon-6:00pm In order lo take advantage of this resource, you need to sign up for an orientation class or skills check, depending on your climbingexperience. Classes are taught Mondays-Thursdays 3:00pm-7:00pm or on Fridays at 3:00pm. If you are an experienced climber, you may take the short skills check instead. Visit the Rock Wall Desk at Equipment Etc. for more on-site information.