November 18, 2002
The Texas A&M men's basketball team plays its final exhibition game against the EA Sports Southwest All-Stars on Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
Aggie Athletes Involved, a service organization made up of A&M athletes, will have a donation station near the East Entrance of Reed Arena as part of its "Coats for Kids" drive. Fans who donate coats, blankets, sweat shirts or sweaters will be give a free mezzanine, balcony or gallery ticket (based on availability). Donations will be accepted from 5:30 p.m. until tipoff.
The Aggies beat MBC Nikolaev, 86-73, in their first exhibition game on Nov. 11. Freshman forward Antoine Wright, the preseason Big 12 Freshman of the Year, led the Aggies with 24 points and eight rebounds. Senior Bernard King started at point guard and scored 16 points with six assists, while junior guard Kevin Turner, a junior college transfer, added 15 points. King and Turner each made 3-of-5 from three-point range.
"The competition we'll face against EA Sports will be closer to what we will see during the season," A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. "We'll use this game to continue our preparations for our opener next week. We want to evaluate where we are and focus on the areas where we need improvement."
The Aggies open the regular season on Sunday against Texas Southern at 7 p.m. at Reed Arena.
EA Sports Southwest was 1-10 on its grueling November tour going into Monday's game at Texas-El Paso. The All-Stars are playing 14 games in 20 days. They opened their schedule with a 92-86 upset of Utah and have lost close battles against Utah State (106-97 in overtime), BYU (89-84), Texas Tech (92-81) and Wyoming (80-79). They led Texas Tech, 50-41, at halftime, but the Red Raiders closed the game with a 17-6 run for the victory.
EA Sports is made up of nine former college players -- Nick Bradford (Kansas), Tony Harvey (Utah), Chris Crosby (Washington State), Brett McFall (Wyoming), Ronnell Mingo (Wyoming) and Joe Vogel (Colorado State), Aki Thomas (Howard), Maurice McLemore (Pacific) and Joe Smith (Alabama-Huntsville).