July 07, 2007
Texas A&M?â„¢s Donald Sloan scored 12 points to help Athletes in Action overcome a 22-point deficit to beat Kazakhstan, 92-78, on Saturday at the William R. Jones Cup.
AIA improved to 4-2 and remains one game behind Jordan in the standings. Kazakhstan dropped to 1-5 in the tournament. AIA will face Japan on Sunday before playing tournament host Taiwan on Monday.
?We allowed ourselves to get back in the game and then they really got tired and started to make a lot of tired mistakes,? Coach Mike Jarvis said. ?By the fourth quarter, we had picked it up and started to play like a team.?
Reed Rawlings of Chattanooga, Tenn., led the U.S. comeback with a game-high 25 points. West Virginia?â„¢s Alex Ruoff scored 18 points while Michigan?â„¢s Zack Gibson added 12 points and nine rebounds.
Kazakhstan raced out to a 33-11 lead in the first quarter after making 10-13 shots from the field, including four three-pointers. But Kazakhstan made just 28 percent from the field the rest of the game. The U.S. out-scored Kazakhstan, 28-9, in the fourth quarter.