BOX SCORE

GARLAND, Texas - Prairie View A&M fought until the final buzzer sounded, but an untimely run by Southern late in the second half of the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship game spelled the end of the season. Prairie View A&M was defeated 45-44 in a heartbreaker that came down to a final shot attempt.

The Panthers didn't give up. Trailing 45-38 with 1:12 left, Prairie View A&M embarked on a 20-second, 6-0 run that was capped off by a Montrael Scott (6 points, 6 rebounds) jumper with 42 seconds left to cut its deficit to 45-44. Prairie View A&M held strong on their final defensive possession and got the ball back with five seconds remaining. Jourdan DeMuynck took the ball the length of the court but couldn't get the shot attempt up as he fell and lost the ball with time expiring.

Despite the loss, Prairie View A&M made their first SWAC Tournament Championship Game appearance for the fist time in 15 years. The last time the Panthers played in a championship game was in 1998 in when they defeated Texas Southern.

With his team trailing 38-37 with 4:04 left in the game, DeMuynck went to the line and made one of two free throws to tie the game. Southern's Brandon Moore converted a tip-in on the next offensive possession to give the Jaguars a 40-38 lead with 3:40 left to go.

That was the start of a 7-0 run that Southern used to pull away from the Panthers and take a 45-38 lead. Prairie View A&M recovered with a run of their own but it fell short.

The Jaguars' Malcolm Miller went to work as Southern took a second half lead, but senior guard Ryan Gesiakowski drained a corner three and Carl Blair followed it up with a driving layup to give the Panthers a 34-30 lead with 9:48 remaining in the game. In true back and forth fashion, Southern responded with a 7-0 run, which was capped off by Yondarius Johnson's fast break layup with 8:07 left on the clock to go up 37-34. DeMuynck scored three consecutive points, ending with a fast break layup of his own to tie the game at 37.

DeMuynck followed up his 37-point semifinal performance by going for a game-high 15 points and nine rebounds against Southern in the championship game. He and Carl Blair were named to the SWAC All-Tournament team. Blair finished with 12 points and four assists.

DeMuynck led the Panthers with nine points and four rebounds in the first half. Southern entered the locker room with a 22-19 lead.