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Baylor outlasts Texas A&M, wins longest-ever Big 12 game

Jan 24, 2008 - 7:06 AM COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Ticker) -- Eight total players had already fouled out in the longest contest in the history of the Big 12 Conference. But luckily for Baylor, it still had Curtis Jerrells on the court.

Jerrells had a career-high 36 points - 22 after regulation - and eight assists as Baylor outlasted No. 16 Texas A&M, 116-110, in five overtimes on Wednesday.

With the game tied at 99-99 going into the fifth extra period, Jerrells took control and his three-point play gave the Bears the lead for good at 104-103 with 3:23 to play.

The junior guard then scored the next four points for the Bears and, after Aaron Bruce made a pair from the line, Baylor had a 110-105 advantage with 37 seconds to play.

"You didn't want to see anyone lose a game like this, but obviously I'm very proud of our team," Baylor coach Scott Drew said. "I don't think you can come up with more of a team effort for us."

Texas A&M could get no closer than three as Jerrells made 4-of-4 free throws - giving him 11 points in the fifth overtime - and LaceDarius Dunn converted two as well to secure the memorable victory for Baylor.

"I'm tired but I'm not really that tired," Jerrells said after playing 53 minutes. "Winning takes away a lot of that. That was just two determined teams going out there and fighting and giving it everything they had. I lost count of the overtimes."

The enduring contest just never seemed to end as each team had their moments in prolonging the exhausting matchup during the final seconds of the periods.

"I'll state the obvious, that was one hell of a basketball game," Texas A&M coach Mark Turgeon said. "We played with tremendous toughness and had great conditioning. I was really proud of our group."

Donald Sloan's dunk with three seconds to play in regulation tied the game for Texas A&M at 64-64 and Dominique Kirk scored on a putback from his own miss as time expired in the first overtime, knotting the game at 76-76 and extending the contest in what would turn out to be another 20 minutes.

After the teams were still deadlocked at 80-80 after the second extra period, Jerrells extended the game by making a layup with 10 seconds left in the third overtime, capping a rally after Baylor trailed by as many as five points in the frame.

"Jerrells is a talented player," Kirk said. "He goes to the hole pretty hard and can shoot the outside shot. We just tried to contain him and make the big guys beat us. He made some great plays."

Sloan, who missed the final shot in the second extra session, had another chance to win it again for the Aggies but his 3-pointer as time expired was off the mark and teams went to the fourth overtime.

Bryan Davis' layup tied the contest at 99-99 for the Aggies with nine seconds left to send the game into a fifth overtime where Jerrells and the Bears had finally grabbed control.

"It was a battle," Davis said. "We went out there and fought hard. Baylor went out there and fought hard. We just came out on the short end of the stick."

It was the second straight road win for the Bears (16-2, 4-0 Big 12), who ended a road conference losing streak of 25 games at Nebraska on Saturday.

Bruce had 20 points and Kevin Rogers added 19 and 18 rebounds for Baylor, which has won five straight games and is off to its best start since the 1945-46 season.

The Bears set a school-record by committing 38 fouls with five of their players fouling out. However, the Aggies did not fully capitalize, making just 61 percent of their foul shots (36-of-59).

"We were running out of bodies and (Baylor assistant) coach (Jerome) Tang got excited next to me and said 'can I go in if everybody fouls out,'" Drew said.

Davis led the way with a career-high 30 points and 14 rebounds for Texas A&M (15-4, 1-3), which dropped to 13-1 at home and has lost three straight contests overall.

The game featured 17 ties and 20 lead changes, but amazingly had only a combined 30 turnovers between the teams in 65 total minutes of action. Baylor outrebounded Texas A&M, 70-64, for the contest.

"We played five overtimes and one team had 16 turnovers and the other had 14," Turgeon said. "Those teams played really well. A five overtime game is just asking a lot when you're not as deep as you need to be."

The lead changed hands nine times by the 9:57 mark of the second half before Jerrells ignited an 11-1 spurt with a 3-pointer that put the Bears in front, 60-51, with 5:12 remaining.

The Aggies responded by scoring the next nine points - five from Kirk - to tie the game at 60-60 with 2:41 left in regulation.