It was a statement week for the Aggie basketball team.
After cruising to a win over Texas and upsetting No. 10 Gonzaga, the Aggies found themselves in the title game of the Battle for Atlantis tournament against Syracuse. A&M led at the half, but once again struggled to score in the closing minutes of the game, and ultimately fell to Syracuse by a 74-67 score.
A&M (6-1) was led in scoring by Jalen Jones, who after struggling in the first two games of the tournament, exploded for 23 points and six rebounds before fouling out of the game late. His play inside gave the Aggies a lot of second chance opportunities.
Danuel House had another impressive outing, posting 15 points, five rebounds and two assists. Beyond House and Jones, the Aggie offense struggled to put points on the board.  
Syracuse (6-1) was helped late in the first half with a controversial call. Trailing 35-31, the Orange decided to put up a desperation shot to end the half, but a foul was called in the action of shooting, and Syracuse was awarded three free throws. They would convert two and trailed A&M 35-33 at the half, but from that moment, most of the momentum stayed with the Orange.
The three-point shooting, which has been pretty good this year, was an eye sore on the stat sheet. A&M was just 6-for-20 (30 percent) from behind the arc. A&M also had trouble with fouls, as they allowed Syracuse to reach the bonus early in the second half, and that hurt the Aggies the rest of the way.
The game was  tied 61-61 with 6:23 to go in the game, but from there, Syracuse outscored the Aggies 13-6 over the final stretch, and went the final five minutes without a field goal until hitting a layup as time expired.
Syracuse had four players in double figures, led by Michael Gbinije who pitched in 20 points and was 4-for-6 from three-point range. As a team, the Orange shot 44 percent from downtown, and was 84 percent from the free throw line in the second half.
It was A&M’s first loss this season, but they made a big statement this week and showed they have a sky high ceiling this season. A&M returns to action on Wednesday night, as they host Florida Gulf Coast at Reed Arena.