The Prairie View A&M University men's basketball team was victorious Saturday evening, defeating Alcorn State 66-60 at the William J. Nicks Building on the campus of Prairie View A&M University.

The Panthers are the #4 seed will host #5 Grambling St. in an opening-round SWAC Tournament Game Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the William J. Nicks Building. General admission ticket are $15. (purchase here) For courtside seating at $25 per seat, contact Laura Collins (ljcollins@pvamu.edu; 936-261-3951) or Jasper Fell (jcfell@pvamu.edu; 936-261-3970) for availability. Students from both schools with valid ID are admitted free.

The game will be broadcast live on KPVU 91.3 FM and video streamed on pvpanthers.com.

Zach Hamilton led the Panthers in scoring with 23 points, while Tevin Bellinger tallied 17 points on 42 percent shooting. Ja'Donta Blakley was active on both ends of the floor finishing with eight points, eight assists, six boards, four steals, and two blocks. As a team PVAMU shot 42 percent from the field, and 40 percent from beyond the arc.

The Panthers broke fast out of the gates, as Hamilton buried a three-pointer to give PVAMU a 10-4 lead with 15:39 left in the opening half. The Panthers caught fire from the field, going on a 16-6 run, which was punctuated by key baskets by Bellinger, Blakley, Troy Thompson, and Yusuf Yakubu.  With 9:44 remaining in the first half the Panthers were in control, leading 26-12. The Braves battled back cutting the PVAMU lead to just eight points on a Denzel Dulin layup. But the Purple and Gold never relinquished its lead, finishing the half ahead by a score of 42-29.

Prairie View would continue their hot shooting, outscoring the Braves 8-2 in the opening minutes of the half, a Blakley layup gave the Purple and Gold a 50-33 advantage with 17:45 remaining in the contest.  Alcorn State continued to hang around, however the Braves eventually cut the Prairie View lead to 54-45 after AJ Mosby buried a three-pointer with 10:33 left. Alcorn State closed the gap to six with 4:09 remaining, but the Panthers shut the door on the Braves in the final minutes.   Timely baskets down the stretch by Bellinger, Blakley, and Hamilton put the game away for PVAMU.