Prairie View, Texas – The PVAMU men’s basketball team was defeated by the Grambling State Tigers in round one of SWAC Tournament action 81-77 in a nail biter at the William J. Nicks Arena.
Tevin Bellinger and Troy Thompson led PVAMU in scoring with 18 points apiece, Shay’Rone Jett tallied 14 points on 80 percent shooting, and Zachary Hamilton notched a dozen points and six boards in 33 minutes of action.
The Panthers started the game off hot, as Hamilton buried a three pointer and Ja’Donta Blakley converted a layup attempt. GSU battled back with 16:15 remaining in the first half of the game was tying the score at 13. The teams continued to battle with neither teams wanting to relinquish their leads. The Purple and Gold fell behind 31-24, but battled back thanks to key baskets by Blakley, Bellinger and Thompson cutting the Tigers advantage to four (39-35) as the first half came to a close.
Prairie View A&M started slow in the second half, as Grambling outscoring PVAMU 8-3 in the opening minutes of the final half. With 18:36 left in the contest, Grambling led 43-35. The Panthers showed incredible grit and resiliency, cutting the lead to 46-45 on a Jett three pointer. The contest remained close, as the Tigers and the Panthers traded baskets once again. Hamilton drilled a shot from beyond the arc to reduce the Tiger lead to one with 15:47 left. GSU went on a 7-0 run to take another 67-60 lead, that the Panthers would quickly erase with timely buckets from Jett, Avery Lomax and a three- pointer from Hamilton.
With 5:15 remaining GSU was clinging to a 69-68 lead. The Tigers took a 78-73 advantage after a converted Remond Brown jumper. Bellinger nailed a three pointer to cut the lead to two with minutes remaining. Jett had an opportunity to tie the contest, but he split a pair of free throws from the charity stripe. Chase Cormier converted two free throw attempts to put GSU up 80-77 with 15 seconds left. On the potential game tying possession Prairie View A&M couldn’t get off a shot attempt as Bellinger’s pass to Hamilton was stolen. Nigel Ribero put the game away for GSU as he converted on one of his two free throw attempts.
Courtesy: PVAMU Athletics
