BOX SCORE
HOUSTON – For the third straight evening, the Prairie View A&M men's basketball team started off strong but unlike its first two games, they had to hold on for dear life as the Panthers advanced to the SWAC Tournament Championship for the second consecutive year after a 55-49 defensive showdown over Alabama A&M.
Alabama A&M was the aggressor early on as the Bulldogs used their length to harass the Panthers on both ends of the court. The Bulldogs stormed out to a 10-4 lead on a Jeremy Crutcher trey with 14:59 left but senior post Jules Montgomery hit back-to-back jumpers in the paint to cut AAMU's lead down to 10-8.
After two AAMU free throws, the Panthers began to figure out AAMU's defensive scheme and had success as layups by Hershey Robinson, Montrael Scott and two free throws by Tre Hagood gave PVAMU its first lead of the night at 14-12 at the 10:50 mark. The nerves began to disappear for PVAMU as they went on a 15-4 run over the next five minutes which extended its lead to 27-16 after two Demondre Chapman free throws. The Panthers led by as much as 13 on Chapman's dunk with 29 seconds left but a late basket by AAMU's Jerome Hunter set the score at 33-22 entering halftime.
Louis Munks scored the first four points of the second stanza as the lead grew to 15 at 37-22 with 18:47 remaining. Based on their play over the past two games, it looked like the Panthers were headed towards a breather but things changed quickly over the next several minutes.
Alabama A&M closed the gap to 37-28 with a 6-0 spurt but a free throw by Brisco and a Munks jumper pushed the lead back to 12 with 9:58 left. AAMU trimmed the lead to eight but a basket by Scott kept the Panthers' double digit lead intact at the 7:08 mark. Every time AAMU attempted to cut into PVAMU's lead, the Panthers responded as Chapman scored a layup for a 44-38 margin followed by two free throws from Hagood after AAMU closed to within four.
After a missed shot by Brandon Ellis, the Panthers created some much-needed separation as Chapman threw down a dunk and three-of-four free throws by Hagood created a 50-41 lead with 1:14 remaining. However, the lead dwindled down to 51-47 with 30 seconds left on Crutcher's layup but Scott hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe for the 52-47 lead. After the scare, the Panthers locked down the charity stripe as they hit 3-of-4 down the stretch to seal its first win over Alabama A&M since 2013.
Hagood once again showed his will as he led the Panthers with 13 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Scott and Chapman added 10 points apiece along with six and eight rebounds, respectively.
Once again, the Panthers are one game away from a NCAA Tournament bid for the second straight year as they'll face SWAC rival TSU in the second contest of the PVAMU-TSU SWAC Championship doubleheader in the Toyota Center in Downtown Houston. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
