BOX SCORE
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – In a night where its three-point shot would not fall, Prairie View A&M fought to the end but came up short as Alabama A&M pulled away down the stretch for a 67-55 victory to hand the Panthers their third straight loss.
The Panthers scored the first points of the contest but never led again in the half as Alabama A&M outscored them 15-3 from that point for a 15-5 lead at the 11:08 mark. After a sluggish start, Demondre Chapman and Louis Munks combined to hit three free throws for a 15-7 margin followed by Tre Hagood's fast break layup for the 15-10 deficit. A basket by Chapman closed the gap to 16-12 with 7:37 remaining but that would mark the closest the Panthers would come as AAMU went into the locker room on top 27-21 at the half.
With their offense lagging behind, the Panthers resorted to defense to open the second half as they held AAMU to a 1-for-8 shooting performance and several turnovers while PVAMU used a team effort to knot the contest at 30-all on a free throw by Rasi Jenkins at the 15:04 mark. AAMU's drought came to an end on Tyler Davis' three-pointer for a 33-30 lead but Montrael Scott answered with a jumper of his own to keep the Panthers within striking distance at 33-32.
After a missed Bulldog shot, senior guard Louis Munks gave PVAMU its first lead (34-33) since a 2-0 margin with a layup. However, the lead was brief as AAMU's Jose Long answered with a three-point play the old-fashioned way to claim a 36-34 margin. At the 10:19 mark, PVAMU's John Brisco nailed a pull-up jumper to knot the contest at 36-all followed by two free throws to put PVAMU back on top 38-37 with 9:32 remaining.
With 9:11 left, AAMU's Jeremy Crutcher hit a trey to move his team on top 40-38 which in turn sparked an 11-3 run to move the Bulldogs on top 51-41. During the run, the Panthers shot 1-for-4 from the field and committed two turnovers compared to a 5-for-8 performance by the Bulldogs. Baskets by Brisco and Chapman sparked a 6-0 run to bring PVAMU within 51-45 at the 2:48 mark but Justan Banks' offensive rebound and putback off a Crutcher miss led to a three-point play and a seven-point deficit the Panthers could never recover from.
The Panthers struggled from the field as they made only one three-pointer the entire game while missing nine free throws. Chapman and Brisco led the team with 17 and 16 points, respectively with Chapman and Scott both accounting for seven rebounds apiece.
The second round of SWAC play begins on Saturday night as the Panthers host Texas Southern in a highly-anticipated conference showdown in the Baby Dome at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale on-line via the PV Marketplace.
