ATLANTA – The Prairie View A&M men's basketball lost another competitive contest Friday in a 65-54 decision at Georgia Tech.
 
Gary Blackston scored a game-high 19 points and had nine rebounds, and Devonte Patterson added 16 for the Panthers, who played their seventh game in 15 days to open the season.
 
Prairie View A&M led for nearly 27 minutes of the game. The Panthers led by as many as 10 in the first half. A pair of free throws by Taishaun Johnson gave PVAMU a 24-14 lead with just four minutes to play. Georgia Tech battled back to cut the lead to one, 27-26 at halftime.
 
The Panthers started fast in the second half, scoring 11 of the first 14 points. Blackston and Patterson each scored four points in the run, sandwiched around a Chancellor Ellis' three-pointer, as PVAMU took a 38-29 lead with just under 17 minutes remaining.
 
After the Yellow Jackets rallied to take the lead at 42-41, PVAMU tied the game one final time at 45-all with just under 10 minutes remaining but did not retake the lead. The Panthers' deficit was two points on three different occasions down the stretch, the final time at 52-50 on a pair of Patterson free throws with 4:03 remaining.
 
PVAMU returns to action Saturday, Dec. 1 at Murray State.