BATON ROUGE, La. – Despite putting forth a solid effort on the hardwood, Prairie View A&M closed out its first SWAC road trip on a down note as they could never get over the hump on Friday night as Southern University clawed to a 50-45 win in the F.G. Clark Activity Center.

The Panthers struggled to begin the game as they were held scoreless for a six-minute span.  Down 6-0, the drought came to an end as senior guard Carl Blair nailed a three-pointer with 14:30 remaining.  Despite the slow start, PV clawed back into the game as junior forward Patrick Agho hit two consecutive baskets to move PV ahead 7-6 with 10:51 remaining.  After a solid defensive effort by the Panthers which saw the Jaguars go scoreless for a seven-minute stretch, Southern rallied and went on a 13-2 run to claim a 19-9 margin at the 6:14 mark.  During the run, the Jaguars relied heavily on the three-pointer as junior Malcolm Miller fueled the run with two treys.

Down by 10, the Panthers methodically inched back into the game over the final 6:14 with solid plays on both ends of the court.  Prairie View A&M became the aggressor offensively and got to the free throw line six times en route to shooting 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.  With four ticks remaining in the first half, sophomore guard Montrael Scott sent the Panthers into the locker room riding a wave of momentum as his trey cut PV's deficit from eight points to five points at 24-19.

In the second half, the Panthers found themselves climbing a hill that constantly grew taller over the course of the half as they never could get over the hump.

Blair opened the half with a jumper to draw the Panthers within three points at 24-21 but Southern answered and went on a 6-0 run which upped their advantage to 30-21 nearly two minutes later.  Prairie View A&M fought back over the next few minutes and countered SU's run as Jourdan DeMuynck nailed a trey followed by two baskets in the paint from Patrick Agho and Josh Eleby to trail 30-28 at the 13:54 mark. 

With 8:18 remaining, Southern's Derick Beltran extended the lead to 39-34 after a layup but PV answered and closed to 39-38 following baskets from junior forward Rasi Jenkins and Blair.  Prairie View A&M would inch to within 41-40 nearly two minutes later but once again, Southern found a way to counter and upped its lead to 43-40 with 4:44 remaining.  However, the Panthers turned the ball over on the ensuing possession and SU's Chris Hyder connected on a jumper for a 45-40 lead. 

Jenkins drew the Panthers to within three points on PV's next possession and the Panthers had a chance to tie the contest or close within one after an SU turnover.  Scott missed a trey but the ball was rebounded by DeMuynck, however, the once-promising possession turned sour for the Panthers as Eleby was whistled for a charging foul with 2:44 left.

Southern, which struggled offensively, couldn't attack PV's defense and was forced to call two timeouts over an 18-second span.  With 2:10 left, Hyder missed a basket but the ball was rebounded by SU's Brandon Moore.  Moore missed the next shot but Javan Mitchell picked up SU's second straight offensive rebound.  After the rebound, Southern's Malcolm Mitchell was fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:36 left and nailed all three attempts to extend its lead to 48-42.

From that point, everything went wrong for the Panthers as they committed another offensive foul and a defensive foul which led to more free throws from SU.  PV wouldn't score until five seconds left as the damage was done en route to Southern's third straight win over PV.

DeMuynck led PV with 12 points while Blair followed with 10.  Jenkins scored eight points and pulled down seven rebounds.  Malcom Miller was Southern's top scorer with 11 points.

The Panthers will have little time reflect back on Friday's game as they're back on the court this Sunday as they'll host TSU in the Baby Dome.  The doubleheader will tip-off at 5:30 p.m. and will be televised live on SWAC-TV.