Aggies Hold off Late Montana Charge in 86-81 Victory

Tuesday, November 18

Bryan-College Station

7:00 PM

Texas A&M

3-2,0-0SEC

Montana

4-2,0-0Big Sky

Montana

Texas A&M

Nov 18, 2025 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Rachel Perreault, Texas A&M Athletics Communications

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION – The Texas A&M men's basketball team survived a late charge by the Montana Grizzlies to record an 86-81 victory Tuesday evening inside Reed Arena.

A layup and a dunk by Jamie Vinson gave Texas A&M (3-2) its largest lead of the game, 70-51, with 7:23 remaining in the second half, but the Grizzlies (4-2) responded with a barrage of shots to claw back into the contest. Montana hit its last 12 field goals, including six 3-pointers to cut the deficit to 81-80 with nine seconds remaining. Money Williams scored 18 of his game-high 22 points in the flurry.

The Aggies held off Montana's surge by sinking 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 20 seconds, including two each by Pop Isaacs, Jacari Lane, Josh Holloway and Rashaun Agee.

Griffen paced the Aggies with a season-high 17 points on 6-of-9 (66.7%) shooting from the field. Agee registered his first double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Rubén Dominguez scored 11 of his 12 points in the first half and added four assists in the game. Isaacs and Zach Clemence chipped in with 10 points apiece.

Texas A&M got out to a fast start in the first half, creating a 25-13 lead at the 9:10 mark prompted by shooting 11-of-13 (84.6) from the field and 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. Montana cut the lead down to 30-28, but the Aggies used a 15-3 run in the final 5:37 to take a 45-31 lead into the half. The Maroon & White shot a blistering 70.8% (17-of-24) from the field in the first half.

Despite Montana's late run, the Aggies never trailed after the 18:38 mark of the first half. Texas A&M shot over 50% for the second time on the season, hitting 29-of-54 (53.7) from the field. The Maroon & White owned a 40-18 advantage in points in the paint.

POST GAME QUOTES
Head coach Bucky McMillan on the team's performance …
"If you told me before the game that [Montana] would go 16-of-31 from three, I don't know if we could win the game. That is such an astronomical number for that volume of 3-point shooting, so it was great for us to find a way to win the game. We weren't shooting at a high clip. We passed the ball well with 22 assists and 10 turnovers, there were a lot of positives there. I don't know how you stop some of those last few 3's [they] made, I thought we played elite defense there. Then we were coming back the other way and we had all the game pressure in the world on us to make free throws. You look up and the game is under control, then you blink and now we have to make free throws to close the game out. I was proud of our guys for being able to close it out. Overall, our team needs to be proud and happy with any performance where we can overcome a hot-shooting team."

Senior guard Rylan Griffen on the Aggies' free throw down the stretch …
"It was huge to be because we missed a couple of free throws against UCF, so [to see all those guys] all making their free throws was something we needed, it's something we work on. We had the confidence going up there and were just happy we made them because we pretty much knew they were all going in."

POSTGAME NOTES
TEAM NOTES

Texas A&M used the starting lineup of Jacari Lane, Rylan Griffen, Rubén Dominguez, Rashaun Agee and Chris McDermott, it's fourth different lineup of the season.

Aggies had a string of 10:04 where they were 11-of-13 (84.6%) shooting from the field, including seven consecutive baskets.
The Maroon & White owned a 41-25 edge in bench points, holding the advantage in the category for the fourth time this season.
The Aggies boasted a 40-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Texas A&M saw at least five players score in double figures for the fourth time this season.

INDIVIDUAL NOTES
#1 Josh Holloway

Registered a season-high five assists on the night.

#2 Pop Isaacs

Scored in double figures for the second-straight game finishing with 10 points, shooting 4-for-7 (57.1%) from the field.
Added a season-best four assists.

#3 Rylan Griffen

Set a new season best with 17 points on the night, leading the team in scoring for the first time this season.
Scored 15-plus points in a game for the 15^th time in his career.

#4 Jamie Vinson

Went 4-of-5 from the field to score a career-high eight points in 10 minutes of action.

#7 Zach Clemence

Went 4-for-4 on the night, including two 3's, to make it back-to-back games in double figures with 10 points against the Grizzlies.

#9 Rubén Dominguez

Knocked down three 3's in the first half to register his fourth double-digit scoring game of the season with 12 points.
Matched his season-high with four assists.

#12 Rashaun Agee

Recorded his first double-double of the season and the 22^nd of his career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
His points total marked the fourth time this season he has scored in double figures and his rebound total set a new season best.

#14 Chris McDermott

Made his first career start.

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