Prairie View, Texas - The Prairie View A&M University men's basketball team defeated Texas Southern University 96-82 at the William J. Nicks Babydome.
 
Gary Blackston led all scorers with 29 points on 9-15 shooting from the floor. Zachary Hamilton tallied 26 points on 4-9 shooting from beyond the arc. JD Wallace notched 17 points and 13 rebounds in 38 minutes of game action. Troy Thompson chipped in with 10 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds.  The Panthers were extremely efficient on the offensive end shooting 60 percent from the field and proved to be capable marksman converting 45 percent of their three point attempts during the contest.
 
The Purple and Gold broke strong out of the gates, jumping out to a 10-2 advantage a little less than three minutes into the contest. The strong start was keyed by baskets from Hamilton, Blackston, Iwin Ellis, and Thompson. The Panthers continued their strong play leading 28-13 with 11:13 left in the opening half after Blackston buried a three pointer. Texas Southern slowly clawed back into the game, eventually cutting the PVAMU advantage to eight with less than seven minutes remaining in the first half. PVAMU responded, outscoring the Tigers 20-9 in the final 6:42, forcing a lead by as many as 19. The Panthers placed timely buckets from Wallace, Blackston, Hamilton, and Keion Alexander as the half came to a close. PVAMU took a 53-34 halftime led to locker room.
 
Prairie View continued its strong play opening the second half, taking their largest lead of the contest of 23 points. With 18:07 to left go in the game Prairie View took a 59-36 advantage over TSU. The Panthers continued to get strong play from their starters, not allow Texas Southern to get within a dozen points of the PVAMU lead as the game wound down. As the final buzzer sounded, the Panthers stood victorious over their cross town rivals, triumphing 96-82.
 
The Panthers return to the hardwood for action on Saturday, February 10^th hosting Grambling State Tigers at the William J. Nicks Arena. Tip off is set for 5 p.m.
 
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