DENTON, Texas – Playing in his final regular season game in the Dallas area, senior Montrael Scott went out with a bang as he scored 26 points to lead Prairie View A&M to a 70-67 win over Conference USA’s North Texas on Tuesday night.
Back-to-back treys by John Brisco early in the game turned a 7-6 PVAMU lead into a 13-6 lead and the Panthers remained ahead by seven (15-8) after Scott’s jumper with 13:13 remaining.
A 7-0 run by the Mean Green tied the game at 15-all until layups by Jaryn Johnson and Tre Hagood ended the run and gave PVAMU a 19-15 advantage.
North Texas, coming off a defeat over Creighton of the Big East this past weekend, turned the tables and went on a 15-4 surge over the next six-and-a-half minutes to move ahead 30-23 with 2:15 remaining.
Junior guard Jacoby Green stopped the bleeding with a jumper at the 2:05 mark and the Panthers held ground as UNT claimed a 34-27 halftime advantage.
The Mean Green claimed their largest lead of the contest five minutes into the second half as they led PVAMU 44-33 after Deandre Harris’ layup.
A trey by Montrael Scott cut the deficit to single digits (44-36) but UNT went ahead by 11 once again after Harris’ three-pointer.
Sensing the game slipping away, the Panthers turned up their intensity and Scott led the way as he scored 10 points during a seven-minute span which saw the Panthers reclaim the lead at the 7:05 mark after Karim York’s jumper.
UNT regained the lead but the Panthers kept on fighting as two free throws by York and a Scott layup swung the margin back in PVAMU’s favor as they led 61-59 with 4:58 on the clock.
PVAMU’s defense shut down the Mean Green from that point as they would only attempt seven shots over the final four minutes while the Panthers kept charging as they led 66-59 with three minutes remaining after York’s trey and Tre Hagood’s basket.
The Mean Green closed to within 66-61 with 2:33 on the clock and a Panther turnover and missed layup led to a trey by UNT’s Jordan Williams and PVAMU clinging to a 66-64 margin.
With the Mean Green on their heels, Scott missed a jumper but picked up a huge offensive rebound to eat more clock which led to a UNT foul and 1-of-2 free throws by Reggis Onwukamuche as PVAMU led 67-64 with 28 ticks left.
The Panther defense stepped up as Hagood logged a huge steal immediately following a UNT timeout which led to layup by York and a two-possession, 69-64 lead.
However, UNT continued to be a thorn in the team’s side as TJ Taylor’s trey narrowed the deficit to 69-67 with eight seconds left.
UNT fouled PVAMU’s Jacoby Green with three seconds left but UNT still had a chance to tie as Green connected on 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
UNT had one final chance to tie but Williams’ three-pointer fell short as the Panthers picked up their first win over the Mean Green in series history.
Scott finished with 26 points and went 4-of-8 from the three-point line. Brisco followed with 11 points while Tre Hagood had another all-around performance with eight points, eight assists and seven rebounds.
PVPanthers.com
