The Prairie View A&M men’s basketball team went on a two game road trip finishing with two close games against Alabama A&M and Alabama State. The Panthers fell short on Saturday night to Alabama A&M by a close margin of 59-54 and won against Alabama State in another close game 56-55 when senior forward Darnell Hugee hit a game-winner with eight-tenths of a second remaining in the second half as the Prairie View A&M Panthers overcame a 12-point halftime deficit.
The Panthers had to quickly regain their strength and momentum in order to win the game. Coming off the bench, point guard Michael Griffin hit a big three during the rally to help the Panthers make the comeback win. Junior guard Duwan Kornegay added 15 points; eight coming in the first half when Hugee had to sit with three fouls, one of which was and light a technical.
Hugee finished with 19 points, eight rebounds with Griffin moving into his new role as the 6th man throwing in 10 points of his own. Hugee said, “This was a big game for our team being that it was on the road and on live television, plus fighting through adversity and to early foul trouble we regrouped and fought back.”
The win against the Hornets marks the first time since 2007 and only the third time since 2003 that Prairie View has won at Alabama State. Kornegay said, “It was a hard fought game and appreciates Prairie View’s fan support to motivate them to win the game.” Duwan would go on to say, “I am ready for the TSU (Texas Southern University) game and happy that we won this game due to the road loses that we have been having.”
It was a different story for the Panthers at the T.M. Elmore Gymnasium against Alabama A&M. Prairie View would hold the Bulldogs without a field goal in the final eight minutes of the game, but were unable to steal the victory.
Down 37-20 with 2:51 remaining in the front first half when the Panthers went on a 7-2 run to pull within 12 at halftime. The Panthers went on a 8-0 run at the beginning of the 2nd half but were unable to maintain momentum, allowing the lead to balloon to 12 to make it 52-40. Chris Jones would find a streaking Kornegay down the court for a two-handed dunk to cut the margin to 56-54 with 35 seconds left. Prairie View could not make enough plays down the stretch as Jones missed a jumper two possessions later and Evan Hilton converted from the free throw line to kill any hope of a Panther comeback.
Hugee led Prairie View with 18 points while McDaniel had a huge double-double with 11 points and 15 boards. Kornegay also chipped in 11 points.