Courtesy: Prairie View A&M Athletics
PRAIRIE VIEW – Behind a stat-stuffing performance by senior Devonte Patterson, the Prairie View A&M men’s basketball team took over first place in league standings with a 69-59 win over Texas Southern during Southwestern Athletic Conference action Saturday evening at the Baby Dome.
Patterson went for 27 points, 14 rebounds, six steals and a pair of blocks while shooting 10-of-16 from the floor. Senior Gerard Andrus scored 23 points.
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With Patterson leading the charge, the Panthers (12-11, 8-2 SWAC) stormed out of the gates in the second half with an 11-1 surge to erase a 39-34 halftime deficit. As the Panthers defense largely suffocated the Tigers — Texas Southern went scoreless from the field during the first nine minutes of the half — for much of the half, Patterson began to impose his will as he nearly outscored the Tigers by himself during the final period (20-16).
A put-back slam by Patterson pushed the Panthers’ lead to 11 with 4:42 left, and from there the Panthers cruised, leading by at least six the rest of the way.
Behind the early hot shooting of Andrus, the Panthers opened the contest with nine unanswered points en route to an 11-2 lead.
Texas Southern (10-13, 7-3 SWAC) responded with a 13-4 run to tie the game at 15 with 11:43 left, but Patterson converted a three-point play on the Panthers’ next turn to put them back in front.
Matters settled into a back-and-forth affair before the Tigers managed back-to-back buckets to go ahead 31-30 with 3:52 left in the half, but Patterson stuffed home an errant field goal to put the Panthers back ahead.
Though Texas Southern had little resistance for Andrus and Patterson — who combined for 23 first-half points — the Tigers shot 65 percent from the field in the first half, putting together an 8-2 run in the final stretch to take a 39-34 lead to the lockers, after which Patterson’s heroics sealed it for the Panthers.
Prairie View A&M shot 24-of-48 from the field, dominating Texas Southern on the boards 36 to 23. The Panthers shot 20-of-26 from the foul line, compared to a 10-of-22 mark for the Tigers.