HOUSTON - Prairie View A&M fell behind early in the first half and created a hole too deep to climb out of as Houston claimed a 110-69 win at Hofheinz Pavilion on Wednesday night.
 
The Panthers fell behind early by a 9-0 margin before Zach Hamilton's basket with 16:31 remaining. The Panthers began to find their offensive groove as Karim York and Tevin Bellinger scored the next five points to draw the Panthers within 13-7 at the 15:30 mark.   UH would push its lead to 27-11 four minutes later but the Panthers fought back with a 7-0 run keyed by baskets from Admassu Williams, Jayrn Johnson and Tevin Bellinger. The Cougars would pull away once again with an 8-2 run over the next three minutes to lead by 15 at 35-20 with 5:52 remaining.  The Panthers would draw no closer from that point as UH went into the half ahead 52-33.
 
An 11-2 run by UH broke open the contest early in the second half as they attacked the interior of the Panthers.  Senior guard Avery Lomax provided a spark for the Panthers in the second half with five quick points within the first five minutes of the second half.  Down in the paint, Williams was a thorn in UH's side with 17 points but fouled out with 7:08 left in the contest.  The Panthers would continue to play inspired basketball from that point as Jordan Giddings, Lomax and Bellinger had their moments but it was too little too late due to their first half deficit.
 
Bellinger led the Panthers with 19 points followed by 17 from Williams.  Williams also led PVAMU with seven rebounds and two blocks.
 
The Panthers head to Smithfield, RI on Friday to face Bryant University.