PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -  The Prairie View A&M 2018-19 SWAC Regular Season Championship men's basketball team rolled past Alcorn State with a 98-64 victory, Saturday on senior night in the Baby Dome.
 
After 16 years (2003) the Panthers celebrated not only senior night, but received their SWAC Regular Season Championship trophy presented by SWAC Official Aaron Mackey after earning their 17th win of the 2019 SWAC season the first in school's history. 
 
Seniors Gary Backston, Iwin Ellis, Dennis Jones and graduate Taishaun Johnson were all honored and recognized for their individual achievements before the last regular season game of their collegiate careers.
 
"Great win for us tonight," Head men's basketball coach Byron Smith said. "What a way to close out the regular season. We set a conference record and finished 17-1, so we're excited about that. I thought we shared the ball and we played really well on the defensive end. I thought it was a total team effort."
 
Johnson gave the Panthers their first points of the game on a made layup in the opening seconds of play. Junior forward Devonte Patterson then followed with a layup of his own to give PV a 4-3 lead. PVAMU trailed by four, before a made layup and foul shot from Patterson brought the team within reach at 8-7.  Junior guard Gerard Andrus restored the team's 9-8 lead at the 14:42 mark.
 
A quick 5-0 run led by Blackston put PV ahead 14-10.  Patterson began another 5-0 run that gave PVAMU a 19-13 lead. A three pointer from junior guard Antione Lister extended the team's lead to five at 22-17, two free throws from Blackston pushed the score to 24-22. The teams tied at 24-all, before Patterson restored the Panther's lead to 28-26.
 
Blackston sent the Panthers on an 8-2 run, giving them a 36-29 lead. Back-to-back layups from Andrus, along with a jumper from Johnson, extended PV's lead to 42-31.
 
After scoring five straight points, Patterson helped the Panthers close out the half with a 47-38 lead. Patterson led the team with 17 points.
 
PVAMU went on an 11-0 run to extend their lead 60-47. After going scoreless for nearly three minutes, a three pointer from Lister lifted PVAMU 70-51 at the 11:59 mark.  Johnson led the team on a 14-2 run, to give PV a 91-58 lead with 5:38 remaining in the half. PVAMU closed out the game with a 98-64 score with back-to-back three point shots from junior guards Chancellor Ellis and Elijah Holifield.

The Panthers will return to action when they host Alcorn State for the first round of the SWAC tournament on Tuesday, March 12th at 7:30 p.m. in the Willam J. Nicks Building.  

Tickets are available on pvpanthers.com for $11.00 dollars for a doubleheader and $26.00 for floor seating.  For all the Panther information go to pvpanthes.com.