HOUSTON – Prairie View A&M advanced to the semifinal round of the SWAC Tournament for the third straight year as Tre Hagood and Montrael Scott combined for 39 points in a 62-56 win over Jackson State on Thursday night.
The Panthers, winners of five straight games over JSU for the first time ever entering Thursday's game, came out poised to extend their streak as they broke a 10-10 tie into an 18-10 lead with 8:39 left after the 8-0 run. Jackson State would hang around thanks to the three-point shot and a hot streak from Raeford Worsham as JSU closed to within 23-21 at the 5:16 mark.
The Panthers did just enough to hold on to their lead but JSU refused to surrender as Darrell Taylor dunked home a basket with 1:28 left to cut PVAMU's margin to 27-24. Immediately after the dunk, senior guard John Brisco answered with a big three-pointer for a 30-24 lead seven seconds later and a Zachary Hamilton block on the defensive end led to a potential fast break bucket which came to an abrupt end as Montrael Scott was tackled for the flagrant foul.
Scott made JSU pay for the foul as he hit both free throws followed by a trey for the five-point turnaround and a 35-24 PVAMU lead with 53 seconds left. JSU scored the final points of the half as Janarius Middleton hit two free throws as PVAMU led 35-26.
The second half began similar to the first as JSU opened with a 5-0 run to close within four before Scott hit a huge trey to spark a 7-0 surge for an 11-point (42-31) Panther advantage. A 9-2 JSU run closed the gap to 44-40 with 11:10 left and the Panthers were forced to dig deep from that point in order to live another day.
After JSU closed to four once again with 9:02 left, Hagood put the team on his back with three straight free throws followed by Scott's layup which gave PVAMU a 53-45 lead with 7:28 left. However, the Panthers went on a three-minute scoring drought as JSU once again closed to 53-49 before two free throws by Scott ended the drought for a 55-49 PVAMU lead at the 4:19 mark.
Both teams traded turnovers after the basket with the Panthers suffering the latter as JSU's Javeres Brent hit a trey to close the gap to 55-52 with 2:28 left. Both teams would fail to score for more than a minute as Panther fans were on the edge until Hagood's jumper made it a 57-52 lead and a two-possession game with 58 seconds left. PVAMU senior and SWAC Defensive Player of the Year Reggis Onwukamuche blocked his fourth and final shot with 15 seconds left to seal the win as the Panthers went 5-of-6 from the charity stripe.
Hagood led PVAMU with 20 points, six steals and five assists while Scott added 19 points. Brisco scored seven points while grabbing four rebounds along with three assists and two steals.
PVAMU won its sixth straight over JSU and advanced past the first round for the third straight season as that feat has never happened since the SWAC Tournament began as it took the Panthers 12 years (1998, '03, '09) for the Panthers just to win three first round games.
All roads lead to a 2014 SWAC Tournament Championship rematch on Friday night as No. 1 seed Texas Southern awaits the Panthers at 8:30 p.m. inside the Toyota Center. Both teams split its meetings this season with each winning on the road.
