Houston - The Prairie View A&M University men's basketball team fell to Texas Southern in the SWAC Tournament semifinals 88-74 inside Delmar Fieldhouse Friday night.
 
Gary Blackston led the charge for the Panthers in scoring with 32 points, eight rebounds and one assist, while Troy Thompson tallied 12 points and was 7-10 from the free throw line.  J.D. Wallace notched his seventh double-double of the season, registering 13 points and snatching down 12 rebounds in 29 minutes of play.
 
The squads traded baskets in the opening minutes of the contest, with a Wallace layup putting the Panthers ahead by three with less than 15 minutes to go in the opening half of play.  The game continued to be a back and forth affair in the subsequent minutes, with the teams trading the lead. With 7:42 left in the half PVAMU led 19-18.  Texas Southern seized the lead late in the quarter by as many as four points with less than three minutes on the clock. But Thompson returned the lead to the Purple and Gold, draining a trio of free throws to give PVAMU a 30-29 lead. TSU scored five of the last seven points of the half to go into halftime with a 34-32 advantage.
 
The Panthers came out with all attempts to regain their lead that they had early in the first half.  Tied at 36 was the closet that they came with 18:55 left in the game.  From this point the Tigers broke loose and began a scoring frenzy with PVAMU have no response to their attack.
 
With 14:23 left in the game the closest the Panthers could get was within two, but the Tigers extended their lead to as many as 14 with 8:02 left to go in the contest.  The Panthers continued to try to claw their way back into the game, but just couldn't quit find a way to shut the Tigers down as they closed out the game and ended their 2017-18 season.