August 21, 1998
Telekom Baskets Bonn overcame an early deficit and went on to post an 80-68 victory against Texas A&M Friday night.
The Aggies led 26-16 with 6:36 left in the first half, but Bonn closed the half with a 17-0 run for a 33-26 lead at intermission.
Bonn opened the second half with an 8-2 run, for a 41-28 lead, and the Aggies never came closer than nine points the rest of the way.
"We have improved every game on our tour which was one of our goals," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "We executed well for most of the game but had a couple of lapses that really hurt us. We continued to battle and I was proud of that. We just didn't make plays when we needed to. Every time we seemed ready to make a move, they would respond with a big play."
Senior guard Chris Clayton led the Aggies with a game-high 24 points, making four of six three-pointers. Junior Jerald Brown scored 21 points and made three treys, while senior Shanne Jones scored 11 points. Sophomore Aaron Jack pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and scored seven points.
In four games, Clayton has averaged 17.3 points and made 51.7 percent (15-29) from three-point range. Jones leads the Aggies in scoring on their European tour with a 17.5 average, while Jack is averaging 11.5 points and a team-best 9.8 rebounds.
Ivo Josipovic led Bonn with 18 points while Drazan Tomic added 17 points. Tomic is a member of the German national team. Former University of North Carolina standout Derrick Phelps and former Iowa State player Hurl Beechum were held to eight points apiece.
The Aggies made a blazing 56.8 percent from the field (25-44) and 61.5 percent from three-point range (8-13). However, A&M committed 26 turnovers and was outscored by 11 points from the free throw line. Bonn made 21 of 32 from the line while A&M connected on 10 of 14.
The Aggies close their five-game European tour Sunday against Brandt-Hagen in Hagen, Germany. After a final day of sightseeing on Monday, the Aggies will return to College Station on Tuesday.
Texas A&M (68)
Clayton 9-13 2-3 24, Jones 4-4 3-5 11, T. Brown 0-3 0-0 0, Jack 3-5
1-1 7, Schmidt 2-3 0-0 5, Richards 0-1 0-0 0, J. Brown 7-15 4-5 21,
Team Totals - 25-44 10-14 68.
Telekom Baskets Bonn (80)
Josipovic 6-7 4-5 18, Phelps 3-8 2-5 8, Beechum 3-8 2-2 8, Braun 3-9
3-3 9, Rohdewald 2-2 1-3 5, Tomic 5-11 6-9 17, Behnke 1-1 0-0 2,
Klepac 1-1 0-0 2, Hutchinson 4-7 3-5 11. Team Totals - 28-54 21-32 80.
Halftime Score Bonn 33, A&M 26. Total fouls - A&M 21, Bonn 19.
Fouled out - J. Brown. Three-point field goals - A&M 8-13 (Clayton
4-6, Brown 3-5, Schmidt 1-2), Bonn 3-12 (Jospovic 2-2, Tomic 1-4).
Rebounds - Bonn 26 (Tomic 9), A&M 19 (Jack 9). Assists - A&M 18
(Schmidt 7), Bonn 18 (Tomic 4). Turnovers - A&M 26 (Schmidt 7), Bonn
21 (Phelps 7). Blocked Shots - Bonn 1 (Jospovic), A&M 0. Steals - Bonn
11 (Phelps 3), A&M 9 (Jack 3).