Texas A&M
Saint Louis
Aggies Drop Rainbow Classic Opener to Saint Louis
Dec 27, 2000 | Men's Basketball
December 27, 2000
Saint Louis overcame a spirited Texas A&M rally in the final minutes and went on to a 72-60 victory on Wednesday in the opening game of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The loss was the third straight by the Aggies, who fall to 3-6. Saint Louis improves to 7-4.
After trailing by as many as 12 points in the first half, the Aggies came back in the second half to trim the Billikens lead to 42-41 with 12:22 left in the game. The teams traded baskets for the next seven minutes but the Aggies could not take the lead.
A&M trailed 57-55 after a Nick Anderson jumper with 5:17 left, but Saint Louis's Marque Perry answered with a three-pointer to spur a 9-2 run that handed the Billikens an insurmountable 66-57 lead with 1:17 remaining.
A&M took an 11-10 lead seven minutes into the game, but Saint Louis came back with a eight unanswered points and never trailed again. The Billikens led, 33-23, with 53 seconds left in the first half, but A&M's Jamaal Gilchirst scored five straight points, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to trim the lead to 33-28 at halftime.
The Billikens led by no more than seven points until the final minute of the game.
Carlton Brown led A&M with 19 points while Gilchrist finished with 14. A&M's leading scorer, Bernard King, was limited to eight points on 3-of-16 shooting and misfired on all five of his three-point attempts.
Saint Louis's Maurice Jeffers led all scorers with 24 points and also was the game's top rebounder with eight.
The Billikens connected on a blazing 54.0 percent from the field to just 37.3 percent by the Aggies, but A&M posted a 34-30 rebounding edge.
