Texas Southern pulled away late in the second half and held off a furious Prairie View A&M charge at the end as they won 81-77 inside the William Nicks Building.
 
TSU led by as much as six points to open the second half but the Panthers came charging back with a 12-4 run sparked by Montrael Scott's four points.  Ahead 44-42, the Panthers and Tigers exchanged leads until PVAMU managed to break through and led by as much as five (54-49) with 10:08 remaining after Zach Hamilton's jumper.  Three free throws by TSU narrowed the gap to 54-52 but a trey by Scott increased PVAMU's score to 57-52 with 9:19 remaining.
 
Another basket by Scott kept the lead at five points at the 8:13 mark but the tide of the game changed over the next few minutes as TSU outscored the Panthers 11-2 over the next five minutes to jump ahead 65-61 with 3:56 remaining.  The Panthers battled back as a short jumper by Tre Hagood closed the gap to 66-65 with 2:51 left but the Panthers missed a prime chance to move ahead as John Brisco's trey and the ensuing tip-in attempt rimmed out. TSU countered on its next possession and increased its lead to 68-65 after an alley-oop from Madarious Gibbs to Chris Thomas.
 
A tip-in basket by PVAMU's Karim York with 42 seconds left set the score at 73-69 TSU but TSU's Deverell Biggs hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe for a 74-69 PVAMU deficit. 
 
Down 75-70 with 29 seconds left, the Panthers received another chance to make it a one-possession game after a TSU turnover but turned the ball over themselves.  TSU's Malcolm Riley hit both free throws to make it a 77-70 advantage and held on despite a late PVAMU charge towards the end of the half which cut the deficit to three points.
 
The first half saw TSU break away from the Panthers towards the latter part of the half as they led by 10 with 1:39 remaining.  The Panthers closed the gap to 36-29 at the half.
 
Scott led the Panthers with 22 points and five steals while Jaryn Johnson and Tre Hagood followed with 11 points apiece.  Karim York was the top rebounder with six rebounds.  Four players scored in double figures for TSU with Gibbs leading the way with 21.
 
The Panthers return to action next Saturday as they'll host Jackson State at 5 p.m. inside the Baby Dome.