BOX SCORE
BOX SCORE
COLLEGE STATION, Texas - It was an emotionally charged night for Prairie View A&M in an 81-59 loss to Texas A&M Thursday night in Reed Arena.
A physical game turned tragic as the Panthers lost explosive guard Louis Munks to a season-ending injury with 6:04 left in the game. The junior from Arlington, Texas was rolled off of the court to a standing ovation by the 4,201 fans in Reed Arena.
It was that kind of night for Prairie View A&M, as foul calls and shots just didn't seem to roll to its advantage against its SEC opponent. The Aggies shot 44 percent from the floor, including a 9-for-19 night from downtown. Prairie View A&M also lost the battle in foul calls as it committed 22 personal fouls compared to 14 by the Aggies. Starting point guard Carl Blair fouled out for Prairie View A&M after getting 10 points and five assists. Jules Montgomery scored a team-high 12 points for Prairie View A&M, draining two shots from downtown in the process.
In the first half Prairie View A&M went on an 11-0 run that was capped off by a Ryan Gesiakowski three-pointer with an assist from Blair to give the Panthers a 15-10 lead. Blair performed a devastating in-and-out move that sent his confused defender Fabyon Harris to the floor after the ankle breaker. Blair then hit Gesiakowski in the corner for a three. On the next possession, Blair hit Montgomery for an open jumper to put the Panthers up 15-10 with 10:56 left in the half.
The Panthers held Texas A&M to 12 percent shooting from the field through the first 12 minutes, but the Aggies countered by draining three-consecutive three-point shots to take a 18-15 lead with 6:57 left in the half thanks to Fabyon Harris' jumper from downtown. It didn't stop there, the Aggies added four more threes from that point and finished the first half 8-for-13 (62 percent) from the three-point range.
Harris finished with a game-high 18 points, and Ray Turner added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Aggies.
Texas A&M outscored Prairie View A&M 27-10 in the final 8:16 of the half and went into the locker room with a 37-25 lead. The Panthers (2-2) pulled to within nine points after two free throws by Blair cut his team's deficit to 39-30, but that would be as close as Prairie View A&M got in the second half.
The Panthers hit the road as they will face TCU at 3 p.m. on Sunday in Fort Worth.
