RUSTON, La. – The Prairie View A&M men's basketball team's second-half run came up short as the Panthers lost at Louisiana Tech 82-68 Tuesday night.
The Panthers trailed by as many as 18 in the second half before cutting the deficit to three on three different occasions in the second half.
"I'm pleased with the effort," said PVAMU head coach
Byron Smith. "They always play hard, and they always play together, just not always smart. I tip my hat to Louisiana Tech. They made plays when they needed to. We played some good basketball at times tonight, but we still haven't put a full 40 minutes together yet in a while. When we do that, we'll be successful."
Darius Williams, who came off the bench to lead the Panthers with a season-high 20 points, made a layup with 11:23 remaining to cut the deficit to 57-54 but could get no closer. PVAMU erased 15 points off the lead, as Williams scored 15 of his points in that space.
Devonte Patterson scored 14 points,
Gerard Andrus added 10 points and seven rebounds.
In a game of runs, PVAMU led by nine in the first seven minutes. A layup by
Leon Sneed, who had a season-high seven points, gave the Panthers a 13-4 lead with just over 13 minutes to play in the first half.
Louisiana Tech then made a 15—2 run to take a 19-15 lead with under nine minutes to play in the second half.
The Panthers answered back with a quick 5-0 run. A three-pointer by
Chancellor Ellis and a layup by Andrus gave PVAMU its last lead at 20-19 with 8:25 to play until halftime.
The Bulldogs made the last run of the half, and led by 18 early in the second half before the Panthers' spurt.
PVAMU returns to action next Tuesday in a 7 p.m. game at Louisiana Lafayette.
