PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – An 11-0 run in the second half was the difference as Prairie View A&M claimed an 85-78 win over Texas Southern on Saturday evening inside the William J. Nicks Building.
Alex Anderson scored six points early on to begin the game as TSU opened with a 10-5 lead and TSU remained ahead 14-10 with 13:49 left. Prairie View A&M responded with a 21-5 surge from that point as TSU didn't help its own cause as they committed three turnovers and a technical foul. Down 31-19 at the 8:12 mark, the Tigers slowly but surely found themselves back into the game as Zaire Hayes, Troy Hupstead and Jaylen Wysinger sparked a 21-9 run over the final eight minutes as TSU led 41-40 at halftime.
In typical TSU and Prairie View A&M fashion, it was back-and-forth as the lead changed hands four times within the first nine-and-half minutes of the second half. Down 58-57 after a PVAMU jumper, TSU saw its deficit increase to five on two occasions over the next three minutes but Hayes' three-pointer with 7:02 left kept TSU within range down 66-64.
The turning point would occur with 6:45 left as PVAMU recorded an offensive rebound and converted a three-pointer to lead 69-64. TSU failed to capitalize despite recording a turnover and the Panthers hit another jumper for a 71-64 margin. TSU turned the ball over once again and PVAMU went up by nine (73-64) which led to a TSU timeout. The Panthers extended their lead to 77-64 with 4:05 left and rode the momentum to the final buzzer despite TSU cutting it to 79-73 with 1:43 remaining.
Hupstead led TSU with a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds while Hayes and Wysinger added 18 apiece.
TSU starts the second half of SWAC play in Tallahassee, Fla. On Saturday, Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. CST against Florida A&M.
