UAPB Men’s Hoops come up Short in Rematch against Prairie View A&M

PINE BLUFF, AR – In a hard-fought battle, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff men’s basketball team came up short against Prairie View A&M with a final score of 92-84 on Saturday night at H.O. Clemmons Arena.

Shawn Williams led the Golden Lions with 26 points, four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.

Branden Brown followed with an impressive 23 points going 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from the three-point line. He also added ten rebounds and five assists to secure a double-double.

Dequan Morris finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks.

From the tip, the primary focus for the Golden Lions was how they could stop the Panthers on the defensive end. With the game plan already set, they would trap the PVAMU basketball in the backcourt to force a loose ball, picked up by Stokes, to go the other way. Stokes gave Williams an outlet pass ahead while Morris did a great job filling in the lane, signaling an alley-oop to Williams. Morris would catch the oop over a purple jersey for the bucket and the foul to shut the gym down early with a three-point play.

Morris continued to execute well early on the offensive end of the floor, knocking down a three-pointer from the right-wing with the assist going to Brown to get his stat line going.

Things became tied up at 12 in the first half, but with two K’Shun Stokes free-throws and knocking down two consecutive three-point shots from each corner, the Golden Lions would take a two-point lead over the Panther, 21-19.

Remaining patient on offense was the key to Arkansas-Pine Bluff being successful on the offensive end. The Golden Lions would execute a set well with the ball ending up in Williams’s hands. Snake dribbling through the defense to draw three PVAMU defenders, Williams kicked the ball out to Brown on the wing to fire from deep, knocking down a triple to keep things close at 24-23.

Prairie View A&M would go on an 18-point scoring run causing the Golden Lions to trail at the end of the first half, 46-33.

Checking into the game to fulfill his role of making winning plays in the clutch, Travonta Doolittle would start in the corner and sprint baseline to the other side of the court for a penetrate and dish to Doolittle in the corner for a triple.

Running a repeat, Brown would collect a rebound off a Jawaun Daniels free throw miss push the ball in the other direction. Sprinting ahead of the ball and spotting up and setting his feet to get ready to shoot, Brown would kick the ball to Doolittle on the wing to knock down a second consecutive three-pointer.

Sprinting back on defense, Doolittle and Morris trapped the ball at halfcourt to force a steal, and Morris would pick up the ball to go the other way and lay the ball in to continue to cut the Prairie View A&M lead.

Williams came up big deep in the stretch, knocking down three deep stepback three-pointers followed by two highly contested pull-up jumpers to cut the lead to three (77-74), getting the crowd electrified making it hard to hear.

Two Morris block shots would bring Arkansas-Pine Bluff one stop on the other end, but it was not enough to cut the deficit and retake the lead, falling to Prairie View A&M with a final score of 92-84.

On Monday, the Golden Lions will be back in action for a rematch against the Texas Southern Tigers in doubleheader action on Neon Night at H.O. Clemmons Arena. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.