Men's Basketball: Men's Basketball 2020

PRAIRIE VIEW — The Panthers' final home game of the regular season versus Alabama A&M was more along the lines of a dogfight early on.

However, the Bulldogs did not have their day as Prairie View A&M men's basketball clinched a share of the Southwestern Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 73-62 win Monday evening in the Baby Dome, pushing its home winning streak to 26 straight games.

The stretch is the second-longest active streak of its kind in the nation, and the win marks the first time in school history that the Panthers have won back-to-back conference titles in men's basketball.

A back-and-forth battle from the opening tip, Prairie View A&M (18-11, 14-2 SWAC) gained the upper hand with a 10-5 start to the game. However, Alabama A&M pushed back with a 14-4 run on the strength of the combined efforts of Cameron Alford and T.J. Parham to go ahead 19-14.

The deficit didn't last long as PVAMU seniors Darius Williams and Chancellor Ellis brought the Panthers back, powering a 15-7 spurt to put them ahead 29-26 with 6:18 left in the half.

But the Bulldogs wouldn't go away, tying the game at 32 in the closing seconds before an acrobatic finish under the net by senior Devonte Patterson sent PVAMU into the break with a 34-32 lead.

Patterson and Gerard Andrus took over for the Panthers in the second, powering a 11-3 run to push the lead to 10 with 15:25 left. After a pair of free throws by the Bulldogs, Ellis buried another three to give PVAMU an 11-point cushion with 12:50 remaining.

With the Andrus-Patterson tandem imposing its will on the Bulldogs down the stretch, the Panthers cruised to victory, wrapping up a second-straight perfect season at home.

Andrus led the way with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Patterson scored 13 points to go with 11 rebounds and seven assists.
 
Next Up:
The Panthers close out the regular season with a Thursday night game at Alcorn State and a Saturday evening contest at Southern.