BOX SCORE

Prairie View A&M put forth a valiant effort but came up on the wrong end of the ledger as Southern University withstood a second-half rally in a 73-65 victory over the Panthers in both team's SWAC opener on Tuesday evening in the William Nicks Building.

Both teams were neck-and-neck to open the game as they combined for seven ties and eight lead changes within the first 10 minutes of the game.  Southern (5-9, 1-0 SWAC) put together an 8-2 run to claim a 26-20 margin at the 7:40 mark but PV (4-10, 0-1 SWAC) fought back and drew to within 28-27 nearly two minutes later following five consecutive points from sophomore forward Cortney Bell.  The Jaguars regained control shortly thereafter as they outscored the Panthers 11-3 over the next three minutes en route to a 39-30 advantage with 3:16 remaining.  However, Prairie View kept it close by scoring eight points over the final 2:43 for a 41-38 halftime deficit.

Prairie View regained the lead (42-41) early in the second half following a putback basket from Jules Montgomery.  Southern quickly regained the lead on its next possession and threatened to run away with the contest from that point as they went on a 21-5 surge over the next eight minutes for a 64-47 advantage.  Down by 17, the light came on for the Panthers from that point with the game slipping away.

Junior point guard Ronald Wright led the charge offensively as he scored 12 points during a 14-2 run that brought the Panthers to within five at 66-61 with 5:04 remaining.  Southern's Jameel Grace answered with two free throws to up its lead back to seven but the freshman tandem of guards Montrael Scott and Jimmie Duplessis scored the next four points which drew PV to within three at 68-65 with 3:45 left in the contest.

Southern's Michael Celestin missed a jumper on the ensuing possession and the Panthers had several opportunities to draw within one or tie the game but missed four straight baskets over a two-minute span.  Derrick Beltran broke the drought for the Jaguars with 1:09 left after a key layup and the Panthers failed to answer as they misfired at the basket on the ensuing possession.  Forced to foul, Grace upped SU's lead to seven at 72-65 following two free throws and Beltran blocked a shot on the following possession with 25 seconds left to seal the win for the Jaguars.

Wright was the only scorer in double figures for the Panthers with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting.  Bell followed with nine points while Montgomery posted eight rebounds.  Grace led the Jaguars with 21 points and eight assists.

The Panthers return to action on Thursday as they'll host Alcorn State at 7:30 p.m. in the Baby Dome.  The game will be broadcasted live on KPVU 91.3 FM and can be heard via the airwaves or Internet at www.pvamu.edu/kpvu.  Smartphone and tablet users can also hear the game live by downloading the Tune-In application for their respective devices and selecting KPVU 91.3 FM.

Thursday's game will also be available for video streaming through the PVPanthers.com website.