Behind senior Trant Simpson's 17 first-half points, Prairie View A&M burst out the gates with a 24-4 run en route to an 83-48 victory over Dallas Christian College in its non-conference finale on Tuesday evening in the William Nicks Building.

Tied at 2-all to open the contest, Simpson scored 14 points over an eight-minute span to break the game open 26-6 with 9:44 remaining in the half. Defensively, the Panthers kept the pressure on DCC as they accounted for nine steals and two blocks in the half along with a 10-point effort from fellow senior Duwan Kornegay. As a result of its all-around performance, Prairie View went into the half comfortably ahead 40-18.

The Panthers relied on solid defense to open the second half as they held the Crusaders to only two points over the first five minutes en route to a 55-20 margin at the 14:51 mark. Prairie View A&M pushed its lead up to 40 on two separate occasions from that point as every member on the roster received an opportunity to play before the team begins SWAC play in two weeks.

Simpson led Prairie View with 24 points, four rebounds and four assists on 9-of-15 shooting from the field. Kornegay had a career night with 22 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes of action while Michael Griffin added 10 points and four assists.

Conference play begins for the Panthers on Tuesday, Jan. 4 as they'll travel to Alcorn State for a meeting at the Whitney Complex. On Thursday, Jan. 6, the Panthers will meet Southern in Baton Rouge, La. followed by its annual rivalry match-up versus Texas Southern on Saturday, Jan. 8 in Prairie View. All games are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.