Rylan Griffen scored 17 points and Ruben Dominguez added 12 to lift Texas A&M to an 86-81 victory against Montana on Tuesday in College Station, Texas.
Texas A&M (3-2) used crisp ball movement and quickness to build a big lead before exhaling to stop a two-game skid. The Aggies shot 53.7% but were an even more effective 22-for-31 from inside the arc while collecting 22 assists on 29 made field goals.
Montana (4-2) drew within 10 with 16:34 to go and got within one on a Money Williams 3-pointer with nine seconds left but the Aggies withstood the charge, in part because Williams fouled out moments after his final clutch shot.
Montana’s leading scorer, who was named Big Sky Player of the Week earlier Tuesday, Williams slumped to a scoreless first half before shooting 8-for-8 from the field — including 5-for-5 from deep — after the break to finish with 22 points.
Texas A&M sealed the victory by executing just enough from the free-throw line, shooting 72.4% compared to 53.8% for the Grizzlies.
Montana shot a torrid 16-for-31 from deep. Brooklyn Hicks and Tyler Thompson both drilled three treys.
A Griffen three-point play stretched the advantage to 19 with 6:29 to go before the Grizzlies, who shot 55.8% from the field, found their stride.
Pop Isaacs drove for a layup with 1:23 left to end an Aggies’ field-goal drought of five-plus minutes.
Hicks added 18 points off the bench for Montana while Tyler Isaak scored 13. Isaak and Williams both dished a game-high seven assists.
Zach Clemence, Rashaun Agee and Isaacs scored 10 points apiece. Agee grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double while helping the Aggies to a 30-27 edge on the glass.
The Aggies led 45-31 at intermission in a first half that saw a wealth of shared long-range success.
Montana (6 of 11) and Texas A&M (8 of 18) both shot better than 40% from deep before the break, with the Grizzlies using a hot streak from beyond the arc to remain afloat.
After falling behind by 12 midway through the first half, the Grizzlies got treys from Te’jon Sawyer, Thompson and Isaak over a 1:57 span to trim the deficit to three.
The Aggies scored 17 of the last 23 points of the half to regain control.
