Jackson State Tigers Rally For Overtime Win Over Prairie View Panthers

The battle between Jackson State and Prairie View A&M was one for the history books as the Tigers dispatched the Panthers with a 62-60 overtime at the 2023 SWAC Men's Basketball Tournament in Birmingham, Alabama.

Ken Evans led all scorers with 22 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer to seal the win for the Tigers. Romelle Mansel added a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Will Douglas led the Panthers with 14 points to go with six rebounds. Braden Bell and Tekorian Smith were the other double-digit scorers, contributing 12 points and 10 points, respectively. Yahuza Rasas only scored nine points on 13 shots, but he grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds.

The two teams traded baskets during the first few minutes of the game, but when the score was 4-3, Prairie View exploded with a 13-0 run to take an early 16-4 lead.

The Braves maintained a double-digit lead until Jamarcus Jones and Romelle Mansel powered a 6-0 Jackson State run to score 21-12 with 6:14 to go in the first half.

Both teams continued to trade baskets until Prairie View put together a quick 4-0 spurt to enter halftime with a 28-16 lead.

The second half started with more back-and-forth scoring, but the Tigers took it to another level, going on a 23-8 run that saw Zeke Cook hit a jumper to tie the game 44-44.

Rasas hit a layup to give the Braves the lead, but Ken Evans' 3-pointer gave Jackson State its first lead since early in the first half at 47-46.

Jackson State pushed the lead to seven points before Prairie View responded with a late run of its own, eventually tying the game with a pair of free throws from Smith.

Neither team could get a shot up in the final 30 seconds of regulation, so the game went into overtime with a score of 54-54.

The extra period was another back-and-forth affair where the lead was never more than two points for either team. Douglas hit the first shot of overtime, which was followed by a free throw from Chase Adams and a layup from Mansel to give Jackson State the lead. 57-56 with 3:09 to go.

Both teams continued to trade baskets, and Prairie View had a 60-59 lead. That's when Evans hit a 3-pointer off the backboard, which would be the game's deciding score.

"It feels great to be on the winning side," Evans said after the game. "I came here the past two years and went out the wrong way. This time I'm just trying to win a championship. That's it."

Head coach Mo Williams always believed that his team could pull out the victory. He said the defense held its own until the offense came around.

"Defensively, we were good. We just couldn't score," Williams said. "The second half, we shot 55%-60%, that's us. We just fought back, guys believed, stayed together, and stayed positive. That's why we got the win."

Jackson State advances to the semifinals against Grambling State at 8:30 p.m. CT on Friday, March 10.