Prairie View tops Southern men

• By PERRYN KEYS
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Jan 6, 2009 - UPDATED: 6:50 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

They wanted to start a winning streak.

Now they’ll have to start over.

Monday night, the Southern men’s basketball team had a chance to win its second consecutive game to open Southwestern Athletic Conference play.

Instead, a 5-minute, 21-second stretch at the end of the first half ruined any chance for the Jaguars to make it two in a row, and Prairie View walked out of the F.G. Clark Activity Center with a 72-58 victory.

It was Prairie View’s first win against Southern since March 5, 2005, when the Panthers claimed a 49-47 victory in the William “Billy” J. Nicks Building.

It was also the first time Prairie View had defeated the Jaguars under fourth-year coach Rob Spivery.

“To me, the end of that first half actually humbled us,” said forward Julius Ingram, who finished with nine points and five rebounds. “Prairie View had not won since coach (Spivery) had been here, so we took it as an insult. It was a motivator.”

The first half ended about as roughly it could have for Southern.

The Jaguars (1-13, 1-1 SWAC) held a 21-20 lead with 5:20 remaining. Between then and the halftime horn, they missed shot after shot, committed several turnovers and watched as a one-point lead turned into a 33-22 deficit.

Southern responded over the first three minutes of the second half, cutting its deficit to five points.

But the Panthers’ high-energy defense and smart shot selection kept SU at bay.

“We started off well in the second half, but they responded to all the punches we threw,” Ingram said. “We just shot ourselves in the foot too early.”