PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – The Prairie View A&M men' basketball team fell in a 90-85 nail biter Grambling, Saturday evening inside the William J. Nicks Arena in SWAC action.
 
Gary Blackston led the Panthers in the scoring department registering 25 points on 46 percent shooting, Zachary Hamilton added 19 points in 30 minutes of game action, JD Wallace tallied nine points and pulled down 11 rebounds, Dennis Jones chipped in with 13 points and seven assists off the bench for Prairie View A&M. 
 
The Panthers had an excellent start, leading 7-2 in the early going. Grambling cut the lead to two with 14:36 remaining in the opening half.  Hamilton nailed a jumper to give Panthers a 15-13 advantage with 11:54 left. It remained a nip and tuck affair in the following minutes of action, with 6:34 remaining in the first half Austin Starr drained his second three pointer of the half to give the Panthers a 29-23 lead.
 
GSU later cut the lead to 31-29 with 3:38 to go in the quarter, but the Panthers would respond as Dennis Jones scored seven straight points to widen the PVAMU advantage to seven with less than two minutes remaining in the half. The Panthers finished the half strong, punctuated by a converted jumper by Troy Thompson from beyond the three-point arc. As halftime began PVAMU led 43-37. The Panthers shot 53.8 percent from the floor and shared the basketball with 11 of their 16 baskets being assisted
 
Prairie View held an eight-point lead during the early moments of the final half, however GSU would go on a 9-0 run to tie the game at 47 with 16:11. The squads traded the lead in the following minutes. Grambling would take the lead with 13:30 left in the contest. With 11:43 the Panthers trailed, but were very much in striking distance with the score 60-56. The Panthers later cut the lead to one as Blackston buried a pair of free throw attempts.  Two consecutive baskets from Hamilton gave the Panthers the lead.
 
With a little more than seven minutes remaining the Purple and Gold were in possession of a 66-64 advantage. The teams traded baskets and the lead in the following minutes, with 3:03 to go in regulation, the Tigers were clinging to a 81-78 lead.  Thompson's three pointer banked off the glass to find the bottom the net making the score 84-81. With exactly one minute to go in regulation, PVAMU trailed 84-81. Unfortunately, the Panthers couldn't get any closer as the Tigers converted critical free throw attempts to close out the contest.
 
The Panthers will return to the hardwood for more SWAC action on Monday, February 12th to take on Jackson State in SWAC action inside the William J. Nicks Arena with television coverage on ESPNU. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m.
 
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