The men’s basketball program at Prairie View failed to capitalize on the road losing both contests on the road to Alabama State Hornets 68-61 and the Alabama A&M University Bulldogs 63-58, respectively.
In the first contest against ASU the Panthers opened the game with a 13-7 lead, seemingly still carrying momentum off their two game home winning streak. The Panthers couldn’t maintain the lead as ASU went on a 11-0 run to an 18-13 advantage. PVAMU would not regain the lead for the rest of the contest.
Prairie View did rally when they outscored ASU 18-7 over the next eight minutes to close within two at 52-50 after two free throws from Duwan Kornegay. But to no avail, the Hornets responded by pushing their margin back to eight on three occasions.
PVAMU was able to trim the lead to 65-61 on a free throw from Brandon Webb with 38 seconds remaining in the contest, but the Panthers were unable to make plays to finish the game and committed a foul with 25 seconds left assuring ASU with possession and the victory.
Kornegay led PV with 11 points while Trant Simpson followed with 10 points and eight assists. Courtney Bell was the team’s top rebounder with six in 19 minutes of action.
In the second contest of the road trip it was much of the same for the Panthers. PVAMU lost their final road game of the regular season after having a 34-33 lead at halftime.
PVAMU battled the entire contest bursting out to a 18-13 lead at the 12:05 behind the strong play of Michael Griffin and Kornegay.
Entering the second half the Panthers mantained the lead for five minutes before a basket from guard Casey Cantey put AAMU on top 39-38. Bell would response with a slam on the next possession but in the next four minutes AAMU went on a 12-3 run and never looked back.
While PVAMU’s defense played well enough to shift the contest as AAMU only scored one point over a span of 1:55, the Panthers couldn’t match them offensively with only two points in the final 2:12.
Simpson and Griffin both led PV with 17 points while Kornegay had a solid game with 10 points and seven rebounds.
PVAMU has to defeat Alcorn State on Thursday, March 3 to capture the number eight seed in the SWAC tournament. If the Panthers capture the eighth seed they will face off against TSU in the first round.