Game #5: Texas A&M 86, Montana 81
Records: Texas A&M (3-2, 0-0), Montana (4-2, 0-0)
Box Score
The Aggies were on the verge of a blowout. Then, in the blink of an eye, they were on the verge of blowing it.
But Texas A&M (3-2) converted seven of eight free throws in the final seconds to hold off a 3-point shooting barrage by Montana (4-2) and capture a tense 86-81 college basketball victory on Tuesday night at Reed Arena.
“That’s actually a heck of a win. I’m just being real with you,” A&M head coach Bucky McMillan said. “Montana might not look like an SEC name on there, but you tell me before the game they 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.”
You read that right. Montana hit 16 treys. Five of them were scored after A&M had taken a 73-54 lead on Rylan Griffen’s three-point play with 6:29 remaining.
Montana’s aptly-named guard Money Williams routinely frustrated A&M defenders to hit three consecutive triples in a span of 12 seconds to pull the visiting Grizzlies within 81-80 with nine seconds to play.
However, Josh Holloway and Rashaun Agee both hit a pair of free throws, and Rubén Dominguez added another to secure the win.
“I thought we played elite defense. (Williams) getting them off,” McMillan said. “So we’re coming back the other way, and we have all the game pressure in the world to make free throws.
“You felt it. It’s just all the game pressure in the world. You look up, and the game’s under control. Then you blink. Now, we’ve got to make free throws to close the game out.
“I’m glad our guys were not too cool for school to go ahead and close it out right there.”
Griffen scored 17 points, Dominguez had 12, and Agee, Holloway and Pop Isaacs all had 10 to overcome Williams, who had 22, and guard Brooklyn Hicks, who had 18.
The Aggies must have had dreadful feelings of déjà vu when Montana made its late charge.
Just four days ago, A&M relinquished a 14-point lead in an 86-74 loss to Central Florida on Friday.
This time, the Aggies led for more than 38 minutes. They got off to a fast start and shot a torrid 70.8 percent from the field to hold a 45-31 halftime margin.
“We were just playing together,” Agee said of the first half success. “I feel like the basketball gods always help you when the ball is moving. The ball is going to find the right man every time, and we got great shots.
“We just now have got to throw it over in the second half.”
Ah … the second half. The Aggies shot 40 percent from the field after halftime. Even more alarming was that they made only one of a dozen 3-point attempts.
Yet, they maintained a double-digit lead until Montana fought back from the 19-point deficit.
“I felt we had it under control. I really did,” McMillan said. “But you just never know. It’s the same deal from the previous game. When a team can get going from three, it's a problem.
“When you miss layups or turn the ball over, that’s a bigger problem because it can give them 3-point shots. We didn’t do that as much in this game. We finished the majority of our layups, and obviously, we didn’t turn the ball over as much.”
Agee looked at the game as a learning experience.
“Being up 19 with 10 minutes … I don’t know how much time was left,” he said. “But the game slows down. It slows down, and everything just feels slower.
“Their shots were falling. Ours weren’t. It’s a lesson. We continue to learn. Every game we learn. We learned things (vs.) UCF, and we learned today.”
