The Panthers held down the fort during their two home games Thursday, March 5 against the Alcorn State Braves and Saturday, March 7 against the Southern Jaguars in the William “Billy” J. Nicks Baby Dome.
The Panthers (14-15, 10-6) were battling for third place in the SWAC standings with the University of Arkansas Pine Bluff Golden Lions (10-7). The teams split their season series with Prairie View taking the 66-64 win in Texas while the UAPB grabbed a 67-62 win in Arkansas.
The first home game of the set saw the Braves visit Waller County for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. Both teams battled back and forth during the first half with neither team ever leading by more than two points. The crowd got hyped up when a rim-rattling dunk by junior forward Darnell Hugee tied the game at 13-13 with 15:33 left in the half, but the close swapping of points continued until the 7:30 mark when Hugee made one of two attempted free throws to give the Panthers their first lead of the half 25-24.
From then on the Panthers continued to lead and ended the half with a lay-up by senior forward Jacoie Shivers, increasing the margin to 44-32.
The Panthers returned to the floor excited to seal another win but the Braves came out with another mind-set. The Panthers didn’t let the Braves within nine points until the 14:28 mark when a three-pointer from Braves player Anthony Ford brought the score to 49-43.
With 1:26 remaining in the game, both teams felt intense pressure when the score read 77-74 after a free throw made by Hugee. A few seconds later ASU’s Jonathan Boyd busted a three-pointer tieing the game at 77 with 1:02 left in the game.
During the next possession freshman guard Tim Meadows missed a jumper which would be the last attempt at a shot for the Panthers in regulation. Fortunately, the Panthers got the ball back after an ASU turnover, but then Dorian McDaniel got the ball stolen by Troy Jackson leading to two 30-second time-outs from Alcorn. After the timeout, with eight seconds left, a missed lay-up was grabbed by Alcorn’s Gifford Blakely who attempted a put-back that was rejected by Hugee taking the game into overtime.
The Braves had no chance in overtime with the Panthers dominating with a 20-6 run resulting in a 97-83 win for the Panthers. Meadows led the team in scoring with 26 points while Hugee had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Christopher Jones also made a major contribution with nine assists and 13 rebounds.
On Saturday, March 7, the Panthers made it look easy by stifling the Jags of Southern University on their annual senior night. Coach Byron Rimm III paid contribution to the vets by starting all four seniors including guard Derek Johnson, and forwards Shivers, Blake Thompson, and Ahmed Khalfan for their last home game of their college career.
Shivers made the most of his last introduction by running into the stands to get the fans into the game. He held up his ‘View’ shooting shirt, pumped his arms, and yelled as the crowd joined in the fun. Khalfan also enjoyed his last home appearance with a rendition of Shaq’s superman intro. He jumped into four teammates’ arms as they carried him a couple feet through the row of Panther cheerleaders.
The game would eventually become as exciting as the intros but the first half started off slow. The crowd did, however, became estatic as their Panthers went from a 9-9 tie at the 13:51 mark to pulling away with the game. The Panthers went on a 33-13 run to end the half. Their dynamic defense forced 16 turnovers, most of which came in the first half of play. The Panthers scored their last nine points within the last 1:51 mark of the half with Meadows swishing a three-pointer at the end of the half making the halftime score 42-22.
The Panthers held their lead deep into the second half, reaching their final score of 76 at the 1:02 mark after Johnson put in a lay-up. The Jaguars also had a productive second half, scoring 38 points to end the game with 60.
Johnson led the Panthers with 18 points and two assists, McDaniel dropped in 14 points and seven rebounds, and Shivers contributed 10 points.
With the two home wins, the Panthers secured the third place seed in the SWAC tournament and they will play their first game in the SWAC tournament against the Mississippi Valley State Devils on Thursday, March 12, at 5:30 p.m. in Birmingham, Ala.