Texas State jumped out to a big first half lead and held off several charges by Prairie View A&M to claim a 62-44 win in the Baby Dome on Wednesday night.

The Panthers had a less-than-stellar beginning to the game as they committed eight turnovers within the first eight minutes of the contest as Texas State jumped out to a 16-2 lead.  Back-to-back jumpers by Admassau Williams and Tevin Bellinger ended the drought as the Panthers cut their early deficit to 10 points at 16-6. 

Playing their first home game of the season, the Panthers finally settled in and outscored the Bobcats 10-6 as Bellinger's trey on a fast break capped off the run and closed the gap to 22-16 with 4:37 remaining.  Texas State wouldn't relinquish its lead as they regained control of the game after outscoring the Panthers 8-2 to up its margin to 30-18 before Zach Hamilton's layup with 59 seconds remaining narrowed the gap to 30-20.  The Panthers had an opportunity to draw closer as time ticked down but missed a three-point attempt with one second left in the half.

Prairie View A&M came out of the locker room inspired as Williams scored four of PVAMU's first six points to close the gap to 32-26 at the 17:56 mark.  However, the Panthers went cold from the field over the next three-and-a-half minutes as they missed their next six shot attempts.  Texas State took advantage of PVAMU's shooting and upped its lead to 40-26.  The Bobcats led by as much as 16 with 11:52 remaining and maintained their double digit lead as the closest the Panthers would draw was an 11-point margin with 8:17 remaining.

Williams and Bellinger led PVAMU with 15 points apiece with Williams also leading the way with eight rebounds. 

The Panthers head to Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers on Tuesday, Dec. 22.