LAS VEGAS, Nev. – Despite a 24-point showing from John Brisco, a sluggish second half start by Prairie View A&M led to its sixth straight loss as Stephen F. Austin claimed a 73-61 victory in the Las Vegas Invitational. 

It was nip-and-tuck the entire first half as SFA led for 17 minutes until Tre Hagood's free throw knotted the contest at 24-all with 2:52 remaining.  SFA countered with a basket on the ensuing possession and a Panther turnover led to a SFA trey and a five-point swing (29-24) 22 seconds later.  SFA upped its lead to 31-25 slightly below the one minute mark but a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Hagood closed the gap to 31-28.  However, a late turnover by PVAMU once again led to a pair of late Lumberjack free throws and a 33-28 halftime deficit.

The second half started out on a negative note for the Panthers as they missed their first four shots and suffered four turnovers within the first five minutes en route to an 11-point (39-28) deficit.  A tip-in by Hagood with 15:11 left ended the drought but SFA claimed its largest margin of the game (42-30) at that point on a trey from Jared Johnson.

Prairie View A&M battled back as Jayrn Johnson scored five of the team's seven points during a 7-0 spurt to climb within 42-37 with 12:58 remaining.  However, a three-minute scoreless drought by PVAMU led to a game-changing 15-0 run by SFA which PVAMU would never recover from as SFA claimed a 20-point advantage and held on for the win.

Brisco led PVAMU with 24 points and four steals while Hagood added 15 points and four assists.  Johnson added 10 points and a steal in 15 minutes of work.

The Panthers will close out tourney play versus Brown University on Friday at 1:30 p.m.  This marks the first meeting between the teams since 1992.