December 01, 1999
Texas A&M overcame a scrappy Stephen F. Austin team in the final minutes for a hard-fought 70-65 win on Wednesday night at Reed Arena.
The Aggies managed to post their first win of the season, improving to 1-2, in front of 3,125 fans. The loss drops the Lumberjacks of the Southland Conference to 2-3.
A&M had three players in double figures led by Larry Scott's 14. Bernard King added 13 and Aaron Jack chipped in 11. Jack also hauled in a career-high 11 rebounds to post his first double-double.
SFA had three players, Terrance Lofton, Ron Banks and Henry Howard, with 14 points, and Aaron Radl added 12.
The Lumberjacks put up a huge fight, keeping the outcome in doubt until a three-point play by A&M's Jamaal Gilchrist with 40 seconds left made it a four-point contest.
The Lumberjacks hit eight three-pointers in the first half, while the Aggies countered with six as the teams battled to a 33-33 deadlock at halftime. In the second half, neither team held a lead larger than five points and the lead changed hands nine times.
The final lead change came with 1:32 remaining. With the Aggies trailing by one and the ball in SFA's hands, Jack took the ball away from Jackson to start a fast break. At the other end, Andy Leatherman was fouled as he tried to drive to the basket, sending him to the free throw line for a pair of attempts which he calmly nailed to put A&M up, 66-65.
The next time down court, Gilchrist knocked the ball away from a Lumberjack player, tracked it down, laid it in and was fouled. Gilchrist's free throw put the Aggies up four with :40 left and SFA could not recover.