HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama A&M (6-6, 4-6 SWAC) gave league leading Prairie View A&M (11-4, 10-0 SWAC) all they could handle and took it right down to one final shot before falling by a narrow 55-54 score in an NCAA Division I men's basketball game on Saturday, February 27.
 
Sophomore forward Jalen Johnson (Indianapolis, Ind.) led the way for the Bulldogs with 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go with five rebounds and sophomore guard Garrett Hicks (Madison, Ala.) finished with 16 points and six caroms.
 
Freshman guard Jevon Tatum (Snellville, Ga.) delivered a well-rounded game with seven points, five boards and five assists and freshman Dailin Smith (Colorado Springs, Colo.) cleaned the glass for 10 rebounds to go with his five points.
 
A tight game from the very beginning, the first 11:48 would feature four lead changes and the teams being separated by no more than four points. The last of those would see the Bulldogs pull ahead with a 16-12 margin at the 7:19 mark before PVAMU responded with six straight points to take back the lead at 18-16 just under two minutes later.
 
A&M would take back the lead on a dunk and layup by Johnson with 4:13 left in the half only to see the Panthers regain the lead, 22-20, with back-to-back buckets. That would bring about three lead changes and another deadlock before the Bulldogs managed a 28-26 lead heading into the break.
 
It would remain tightly contested over the opening minutes of the second half with the clubs eventually knotting at 34-34 just under six minutes in. At that point, Prairie View asserted themselves as they used a 12-2 burst in a span of 5:14 to pull ahead 46-36.
 
Undeterred, the Bulldogs would answer back with that exact same run, doing so in just 2:16 and capping it with a three by senior Brandon Houston (Birmingham, Ala.) to draw even at 48-48 with 6:36 left. They would deadlock again a minute and a half later before freshman guard London Riley (Atlanta, Ga.) knocked down a trey for a three-point lead at the 3:22 mark but PVAMU scored the next five points for a 55-53 advantage with 1:43 to play.
 
Johnson would cut that in half with a free throw 25 seconds later and Alabama A&M's defense would hold the Panthers right there to give themselves an opportunity.
 
They would force a missed three and benefit from a pair of missed free throws, the latter of those coming with nine seconds showing on the clock. Following a timeout they worked the ball into the front court but could not connect on what would have been the winning jumper as time expired and Prairie View A&M escaped with a 55-54 victory to remain undefeated in league play.
 
Jawaun Daniels led a balanced Panthers scoring attack with 12 points and seven boards while Faite Williams finished with 10 points and five caroms. Cam Mack posted six points, six assists, four steals and four rebounds and Lenell Henry had six points and seven boards. Jeremiah Gambrell and D'Rell Roberts rounded out the top performers with seven and six points, respectively.
 
Alabama A&M wraps up the 2020-21 home schedule on Monday, March 1 as they host Texas Southern at Elmore Gymnasium. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.

FULL GAME VIDEO