BATON ROUGE, La. – Four players scored in double figures as Prairie View A&M swept Southern for the first time since 2009-10 in a 79-71 road win Saturday evening inside the F.G. Activity Center.
 
Saturday's contest began with an emotional pregame homecoming for paralyzed Southern Jaguar football student-athlete Devon Gales. With emotions at an all-time high and it also being Southern's senior day, the Panthers had to come out full of energy to keep Southern from establishing an early comfort zone.
 
Playing SU for the first time since January, the Panthers hung with them early on as SU led 10-6 less than five minutes in. PVAMU's Tevin Bellinger nailed a three-pointer to draw within 10-9 and from that point, defense would become PVAMU's calling card. Jayrn Johnson picked the pockets of SU's Trelun Banks and nailed a three-pointer for PVAMU's first lead (12-10) since the 18:48 mark. Avery Lomax would extend the lead as the senior from Desoto, Texas logged two steals and capped off an 8-0 spurt with six consecutive points to lead 18-12. Banks would answer with a trey but Ja'Donta Blakley stole a pass and set up a successful offensive possession as Malik Amos hit a three-pointer. Two more SU turnovers over the next minute led to a trey from Johnson and a 24-15 PVAMU margin with 10:50 left in the first half.
 
The pace would slow as SU narrowed its deficit to 24-19 while PVAMU struggled with holding on to the ball as they committed three turnovers over the next three minutes. However, the team got defensive once again as Blakley stole a pass which led to jumper from Karim York and a 28-19 advantage. PVAMU upped its lead to 34-22 with 4:11 remaining courtesy of a Johnson trey but SU rallied thanks to three straight Panther turnovers which sparked a 7-0 run and a slim 34-31 lead. York's jumper with 1:03 remaining helped stymie SU's run and his tip-in with 17 seconds left put PVAMU ahead 38-31 at the half.
 
A 60.9 shooting percentage in the first half by PVAMU would be a hard act to follow but it provided the confidence needed for a tough second half.
 
Baskets by Johnson and Zachary Hamilton upped the lead to nine (42-33) less than a minute into the half but SU came back thanks to a 9-0 run to tie the game at 42-all at the 15-minute mark. Jayrn Johnson was fouled after SU tied the game and his two free throws began a stretch of dominance which was what interim head coach Byron Smith preached in practice the previous night.
 
PVAMU outscored the Jaguars 29-10 during a 10-minute span as Blakley scored 12 points with a variety of moves in front of his home state crowd as he grew up two hours west of Baton Rouge, La. in Lake Charles. Holding a seemingly comfortable lead, the Panthers turned to playing with the clock in their favor but SU charged back as Shawn Prudhomme scored eight straight to cut it to 13 (73-60)
 
Blakley's two free throws with 3:10 left gave PVAMU a 15-point margin but Prudomme remained a thorn in PVAMU's side as his 14-point outburst fueled an 11-0 run which saw the once safe lead cut to 75-71 with 22 seconds left. With 21 seconds left, Johnson was fouled and calmly sank two free throws for a 77-71 margin. On the ensuing possession, SU's Adrian Rogers attempted to make it a one-possession game but Johnson rose up and blocked his shot into the hands of Lomax, whom hit the final two free throws after being fouled.
 
Prior to Saturday's win, PVAMU had not won at SU since March 4, 2010. The win also marked the first season sweep over SU since the 2009-10 season and only the third win over SU since 2010.
 
Johnson led the way with 20 points followed by 18 from Blakley, 15 from Bellinger and 11 from York. Blakley also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and had three steals.
 
By virtue of closing out the second half of the season with a 6-3 mark and with Mississippi Valley's loss on Saturday night, the Panthers clinch the No. 6 seed and will face Jackson State for the second consecutive year in the first round of the SWAC Tournament at 2:30 p.m. inside the Toyota Center in Houston.