Prairie View, Texas-  The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team defeated Mississippi Valley State 93-77 in SWAC action at the William J. Nicks building Monday evening.
 
 Zachary Hamilton and Gary Blackston paced the Panthers in the scoring department each tallying 26 points. Troy Thompson scored a season high 22 points on 8-12 shooting from the field. The Panthers proved to be capable marksman Monday evening, converting 12 of 25 three point attempts, with Hamilton draining six of his 13 attempts from beyond the arc.
 
PV broke slow out of the gates falling behind 13-6 with 14:54. The Panthers would battle back scoring  five straight points, with Thompson draining a  jump shot from beyond the three point arc to give the Panthers their first lead of the game 15-14 with 12:37 left in the first half.  The contest would remain close midway through the half. Prairie View blew the game open, scoring 27 points in the final 8:23 of the half. The run was keyed by pivotal three point shots from Thompson, Hamilton, and Blackston, helping the Panthers shoot a sweltering 66 percent from the floor and 58.3 percent from three-point range. PVAMU played suffocating defense to close the opening half, allowing MVSU to score just nine points in the final 8:23 of the half. The Panthers led by as many as 21 in the first half of play. At halftime the Panthers were in a comfortable possession of 53-32 advantage.
 
The Panthers remained in firm control of the lead in the second half as Mississippi Valley did not get any closer than 16 points. Prairie View led by as many as 27 during the final half of play as they continued to get strong play from Blackston, Hamilton, and Thompson as the game came to its conclusion.
 
Head coach Byron Smith said of his team's performance Monday evening "I think we played really well even when our backs were against the wall, the guys showed a lot of fight tonight. We came out prepared, ready to play, we shared the basketball tonight and that propelled us to a much needed win.
 
The Panthers return to the hardwood to face Alabama State in Montgomery, Alabama for a 5 p.m. tipoff.
 
 
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