On a two-game skid, the Panthers looked to snap the streak against conference leader, Alabama State Hornets.
The Panthers used great ball pressure and jumped to a quick 9-0 lead in the first couple minutes of the contest, but at the 7:55 mark in the first half the Panthers lost the lead and never gained it back. The Hornets exploded back from the first half deficit by garnering a total team effort on the offensive end. Alabama State’s Brandon Brooks led the team in scoring with 10 while four of his teammates chipped in with eight points each.
The Panthers pressed hard to get back in the ballgame, but only could get the Alabama State lead down to five points with 16:37 left in the contest, losing at home 65-53.
Christopher Jones led the pack with 13 points and six rebounds, while Jacoie Shivers and Darnell Hugee each had 11 points in the losing effort. Michael Griffin also added nine points off the bench for the Panthers.
In front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU on Monday, the Panthers were ready to grab the win with the home court advantage against the Alabama A&M Bulldogs. In the overtime showdown, the Panthers lost their fourth straight game, 77-73.
Before the game, the Marching Storm and DJ Mr. Rogers got the crowd amped up. The Panthers jumped out to an early start and applied pressure. The newly installed trap defense was effective, causing turnovers, but it still had a few kinks. The team was ready and attentive, but missed a few early and easy points. It wasn’t long before the Panthers found their rhythm and began to execute. At the 9:27 mark, the Panthers were up by ten 25-15. With the home-court advantage, and the football team becoming a constant disturbance to the Alabama A&M bench, the game took a turn in favor of the Panthers. Late in the half, the Panthers got a little sluggish, but still held on to the lead. With fluid ball movement, the Panthers closed out the first half 36-27. Freshman Griffin had an impressive 16 points as Shivers tacked on six rebounds.
In the second half, the Panthers came out recharged and ready to seal the win. Slowly but surely, Alabama A&M kept chipping away the Panthers’ lead. Before the crowd knew it, the lead was gone and the game was tied at the 7:02 mark. The Panthers lost some steam and as the game progressed the ball movement wasn’t as sharp, but the Panthers still were hungry for the win.
With 4:21 left in the game, the Bulldogs took the go-ahead lead. The Panthers fought hard to come back, and the crowd stood to their feet and kept their eyes glued to the court. The Panthers fed off the crowd’s energy and came back to force the game into overtime. At the end of regulation the score was 66 all.
In overtime, Tim Meadows started the Panthers off right with a three pointer. The Bulldogs refused to be out, as they continued to drive down the lane. As the game dwindled to two minutes the Panthers seemed unmotivated and just went through the motions. With 50 seconds left, the score was tied 73 all. The Bulldogs soon pulled away a four point lead, that left the Panthers in desperation. As time ticked away, the game was over, 73-77.
Griffin had 24 points for the night, while Derek Johnson and Shivers had 10 points apiece, and Darnell Hugee added 10 rebounds.
When speaking about the conference skid, senior guard Derek Johnson said, “We just haven’t been able to finish the games off. We get to a point in the game and get complacent. We need to trust in ourselves as a team and as a whole to find the ability to finish teams off.”
The Panthers look to break the streak against division rival Texas Southern Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in Houston.