No. 16 Oklahoma State 71, Texas A&M 66

<br>COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) _ At last, No. 16 Oklahoma State found success on the road. <br><br>Victor Williams scored 10 of his 19 points in the second half, including a decisive driving layup with

Sunday, February 17th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) _ At last, No. 16 Oklahoma State found success on the road.

Victor Williams scored 10 of his 19 points in the second half, including a decisive driving layup with 22 seconds left, helping No. 16 Oklahoma State hold off Texas A&M 71-66 Saturday night.

The Cowboys (20-6, 7-5 in big 12) had lost four straight road games and led the Aggies (9-17, 3-9) by only 67-66 when Williams charged through the lane for his basket.

``We were able to hang in there,'' coach Eddie Sutton said. ``When you're on the road and the other team makes a run and the crowd starts getting into it, it's easy to make mistakes.

``The three turnovers we got near the end were the big factors. They were the key to the ball game.''

The biggest turnover by the Aggies came with 44 seconds left when Bernard King lost the ball out of bounds, giving Oklahoma State the ball and leading to Williams' basket.

``We were in a lot of foul trouble today,'' Williams said. ``When that happens you have to have other guys who can step up and we had that happen for us.''

Melvin Sanders added a fast break layup with 12 seconds left as the Cowboys sent the Aggies to their fifth straight loss. Cheyne Gadson scored 11 of his 17 points in the second half to balance out Oklahoma State's offense.

The victory was the 699th of coach Eddie Sutton's career.

``Victor was able to penetrate and make some good passes to his teammates,'' Sutton said. ``Victor is a gamer. There's no one I'd rather have on the free throw line or with the ball when the game is on the line.''

Oklahoma State, playing without injured leading scorer Maurice Baker, led most of the game but the Aggies tied it at 60 with 5:22 to play on a tip-in by Keith Bean off a miss by King, who led the Aggies with 18 points.

A&M never led the rest of the way but tied it one more time at 61 before Williams fed the ball to Ivan McFarlin, who put the Cowboys ahead for good with 4:08 to play.

``We gave a gallant effort,'' A&M coach Melvin Watkins said. ``We made some mental mistakes and little things to close the game out. We had a chance to win and should have won, but we didn't get it done today.''

Baker, one of the nation's top rebounding guards, sat out with a sprained right ankle.

Oklahoma State took advantage of a 5:08 scoreless stretch by the Aggies to break from a 13-13 deadlock to take a 35-27 lead at halftime.

Williams broke the tie with a 3-point basket, starting a 7-0 run. During the scoreless streak, the Aggies had an air ball by Andy Leatherman, an offensive foul by King and a shot clock violation.

The Cowboys were ranked No. 5 in the nation in December but their victory over the Aggies gave them just a 7-6 record since then, despite a 79-72 victory over No. 4 Oklahoma on Tuesday.

``We should have won,'' King said. ``We had a few crucial mistakes at the end of the game and that is what hurt us. They answered the call. When it is like this, it tests your pride.''