NOTES
PANTHERVISION
KPVU 91.3 FM
SWAC Digital Network
The Prairie View A&M Panthers close out the 2012-13 regular season tomorrow as they're tasked with defeating Southern University for an opportunity to claim a high seed in the SWAC Tournament. Saturday's is designated as Senior Night as PV will honor five seniors (Carl Blair, Jourdan DeMuynck, Ryan Gesiakowski, Mayol Riathin, Ronald Wright) during pregame ceremonies. The contest will be streamed live on SWAC Digital Network, KPVU 91.3 FM and PANTHERVISION beginning 30 minutes after the 3 p.m. women's contest.
After falling to Alcorn State on Thursday night 81-75, the Panthers lost an opportunity to clinch the No. 2 seed for the SWAC Tournament which starts in two weeks at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland, Texas. As a result of the loss, the Panthers are locked in a three-way tie with Jackson State and Alcorn State and are only one game ahead of Alabama State. If the Panthers aspire to claim their highest tourney seed since 2003, they will need to beat Southern this evening.
As of this point, the Panthers could finish with the No. 2 seed or drop all the way to the No. 5 spot with four teams within one game of each other. A win over Southern this evening coupled with losses by Alcorn State and Jackson State clinches the seed outright for the Panthers. PV could also claim the No. 2 seed by defeating Southern coupled with an Alcorn State loss as the Panthers hold the tiebreaker over Jackson State. Due to Alcorn State holding the tiebreaker over the Panthers, the Panthers would only manage a No. 3 seed even with a win over Southern if Alcorn State defeats TSU.
Under the direction of second-year head coach Roman Banks, Southern has made huge strides towards SWAC supremacy after a series of dormant years prior to his arrival. Southern, which has won three straight over Prairie View A&M, was in position to clinch a share of the SWAC Regular Season Title on Thursday but dropped a 79-66 contest to Texas Southern to fall a half-game behind Arkansas-Pine Bluff. However, with TSU and Arkansas-Pine Bluff ineligible for the SWAC Tournament, Southern has claimed the No. 1 seed and will not have to play until the semifinals due to only seven teams competing this year
Junior newcomer Malcom Miller leads Southern with 16.3 points per game followed by 16.1 points from senior Derick Beltran. Senior Brandon Moore is the top rebounder with 7.3 boards per game.
PV head coach Byron Rimm II is 5-8 lifetime versus Southern and has won 5-of-9 against Southern dating back to March 7, 2009. At home in his coaching career, Rimm is 21-1 in the dome versus non-conference foes and 36-25 against SWAC opponents.
Prairie View A&M will return to action in two weeks as they'll open SWAC Tournament play on Thursday, March 14 in Garland, Texas against an opponent and time to be determined.
