Chad Cross, a DFW native, began his career in the roofing industry in 1996. Out of a desire to provide quality and excellence in customer service, Chad launched his own company, CLC Roofing, Inc. in 1999. Chad is a second-generation Aggie, a member of the Class of ‘94 and was a member of the Corps of Cadets Squadron 12. Chad is married to wife Lynee ‘95 and they have 3 Aggie sons: Cade ‘22, Carson ‘25 and Chase ‘27. Chad enjoys playing golf, reading, watching sports and spending time with family at their home in Southlake, Texas. As multi-sport season ticket holders, Chad and Lynee are blessed to spend a lot of time in Aggieland attending Aggie sports events.Chad has more than 25 years of experience in the roofing industry, including sales, project management, manufacturer representation, as well as catastrophe adjusting. Chad and his team at CLC Roofing, Inc. strive to make sure clients just like you receive the level of excellence in service and workmanship that you deserve! For your roofing needs, contact Chad Cross at (972) 304-4431 or info@clcroofing.com and mention Aggieyell.com.
COLUMBIA, MO. — Wade Taylor’s 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds remaining in the game was the difference as No. 10 Texas A&M knocked off No. 15 Missouri 67-64 before 15,061 at Mizzou Arena Saturday afternoon.
The Aggies (18-5, 7-3 SEC) completed a sweep of the SEC’s Columbia’s, having knocked off South Carolina in Columbia, S.C., 76-72 last Saturday. This win, however, may provide a bigger boost, as it was the first home loss for the Tigers (17-6, 6-4 SEC) after winning 15 in a row.
“I think what was important that we took the last shot, considering all that had transpired in the second half,” coach Buzz Williams said. “I think history will say that statistically, this is the best league ever and every organization is fighting for almost invisible margins.”
A&M scored the first 12 points of the contest and led most of the game, but a scoreless spell of seven minutes, 21 seconds allowed the Missouri to turn an 11-point deficit into a five-point lead with 7:18 remaining.
“In the second half, they absolutely punked us,” Williams said. “They just whipped us.”
The Aggies responded with baskets on their next two possession to tie the game back up, with Zhuric Phelps (14 points) scoring on a contested layup and Taylor (15 points), who had just returned the game after sitting with four fouls, nailing a 3-pointer with 6:29 left.
The game would then see-saw back and forth, with neither team leading by more than three points the rest of the way. Missouri took a 64-63 lead with 53 seconds left on an alley-top dunk by Tamar Bates (16 points) from Marques Warrick (6 points, 4 assists) after Warrick picked the pocket of Andersson Garcia, but Garcia came back and hit one of two free throws to tie the game with 42 seconds remaining.
Bates would miss a jumper with 14 seconds remaining, and A&M’s Solomon Washington grabbed the rebound. A&M got the ball past mid-court and called timeout with nine seconds left, setting the stage for Taylor’s heroics.
Taylor got the inbounds pass from Phelps in the backcourt, then passed the ball to Garcia at the top of the 3-point arc. Bates inexplicably left Taylor, who had curled behind and to the right of Garcia, and Garcia immediately passed it past him to his sharp-shooting teammate, who swished the 3-pointer.
“Andy is probably our best decision-maker that has some level of size and I think how he handled the options of that, he deserves the credit too,” Williams said.
Taylor said he was hoping for a the iron to be kind after he released the shot.
“We wanted Andy to go in and get a bucket and one of their guys overplayed it,” Taylor said after the game. “I was praying it would hit the back iron and go in and it did.”
The Aggies made what was going to be a tough game in any case tougher by making just 14 of 23 free throws and having Taylor, Phelps and Manny Obaseki (6 points) all getting into foul trouble. But A&M’s big men bailed them out, with Pharrel Payne dominating Missouri’s big men to a tune of a game-high 20 points while Henry Coleman pulled down a career-high 16 rebounds to go with six points.
Both teams had multiple long scoring droughts, with Missouri needing more than five minutes to score a point and going more than nine minutes over both halves without a point. The latter slump allowed the Aggies to take a game that had been tied at 20 into a 38-29 lead at intermission. Phelps had 10 of his 14 in the first half, while Taylor only had four points and two fouls. Payne scored 11 in the first half, while Missouri’s Jacob Crews had 10 points, including three 3-pointers, off the bench.
A&M is now 8-2 in games decided by five points or less and is 6-2 against opponents in the top 25. Taylor, who has had a hand in a number of close victories during his time in Aggieland, said Saturday’s victory was at the top of the heap.
“This is number one,” he said. “In this atmosphere and the season we’re having…we prepared like this was a Sweet 16 game.”
Game notes
The Aggies won the rebounding battle 34-32, but were out-rebounded 20-11 in the second half. Both teams had 11 offensive rebounds.
While A&M reverted to its poor free throw shooting, Missouri made 17 of 20 free throws.
Washington, who missed two games with an ankle injury, returned and grabbed two rebounds in 12 minutes.
Phelps, who shot 12-50 (24%) from the field in the last four games, was six for 10 today. He also made one of his two 3-point attempts.
Missouri, which came into the game shooting 38% from 3-point range, made just five of 21 (24%). After Crews hit three in a row in the middle of the first half to give them four makes in seven attempts, the Tigers made one of their final 14 3’s.
A&M shot 45.3% from the field, with Payne making seven of nine shots and Coleman making three of four. Mizzou made 39.6% of theirs.
