Prairie View A&M won consecutive games for the first time this season as they grabbed 19 offensive rebounds in a 60-56 win over Grambling State Saturday evening inside the Baby Dome.
 
Back-to-back baskets from Williams and two pull-up jumpers by Jordan Giddings moved the Panthers ahead 12-7 eight minutes in.  The Tigers moved to within three after a trey from Nigel Ribeiro but an offensive rebound by Karim York on the ensuing possession turned into a jumper from Ja'Donta Blakely and a 14-9 lead at the 10:23 mark.
 
The Panthers would stall offensively over the next three minutes as Grambling State took advantage and tied it at 14-all. The contest would remain tied on two additional occasions from that point but Jayrn Johnson scored four of the next five points for the Panthers to spark a 5-0 run and a 23-18 PVAMU lead with 4:04 remaining.
 
PVAMU was its own worst enemy from that point as they committed back-to-back turnovers on its next two possessions.  The turnovers allowed Grambling State to sneak back into the game as Mark Gray scored GSU's final nine points to send the Tigers ahead 27-25 at the half.
 
The Panthers came out inspired on both ends of the court to open the second half as they outscored GSU 10-6 prior to the first media timeout for a 35-31 lead.  The Panthers crashed the boards with force while also forcing three GSU turnovers as Williams and Johnson combined to score nine of the team's 10 points during that span.
 
The run was short-lived as Grambling State's Ervin Mitchell scored five straight to move GSU ahead 36-35 at the 13:48 mark.  The lead would change hands on several occasions over the next five minutes as the Tigers would move ahead 46-43 after Arnold Richmond's jumper with 8:04 remaining.  A free throw by Johnson drew PVAMU to within 46-44 and a short jumper by Zachary Hamilton tied it at 46-all.  After Hamilton's jumper, the Panthers smothered GSU's Mark Gray in the paint as their solid play on defense led to a wide open shot from Johnson and a 48-46 advantage.
 
Defense would be PVAMU's calling card as a missed dunk by Mitchell turned into a hard-nosed basket in the post from Williams.  GSU missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession and Williams was fouled on the rebound.  Williams hit both free throws as the Panthers extended their lead to 52-46 with 4:22 left.  One minute later, the Panthers had one of their toughest offensive possessions of the game as they grabbed four offensive rebounds which eventually led to Hamilton's put back and a 54-46 lead.
 
Holding an eight-point lead, the intensity and tempo picked up tremendously on both ends as Grambling State responded with a trey from Michael Bethea for a 54-49 margin.  The Panthers turned the ball over on their next possession and the Tigers made it a one-possession game on Bethea's jumper with 2:15 left. 
 
On PVAMU's next possession, Hamilton had a clean look at the basket but his jumper fell short.  However, Johnson had the play of the game as he came from the left side of the basket and dunked home the put back for a huge momentum shift and a 56-51 lead with 1:59 remaining.  Once again, Grambling State refused to go away as Bethea nailed another trey 22 seconds later for a 56-54 PVAMU lead.
 
Offensive rebounding once again proved vital as Jordan Giddings rebounded his missed layup and made it a two-possession game with a huge jumper.  Gray was fouled on the following possession and hit both free throws with 58 seconds remaining. With 31.5 seconds left, Johnson had a direct shot at the basket from beyond the arc but the ball rimmed out. However, Admassu Williams came up with the huge offensive rebound and was fouled en route to hitting 1-of-2 from the charity stripe for a 59-56 Panther lead.
 
Grambling State had two clean looks at the basket as time ticked down but Johnson came up with the big rebound and hit 1-of-2 to seal the win.
 
Johnson led the way with 17 points and six boards followed by Williams' double-double of 16 points and 14 rebounds.  Hamilton added 10 points and seven rebounds.
 
The Panthers are back in action on Monday night as they'll host Jackson State at 7:30 p.m.