Garland, TX (Sports Network) - The Southwestern Athletic Conference will name
a champion on Saturday after the fourth-seed Prairie View A&M Panthers and the
top-seed Southern Jaguars square off in the title game of the conference
tournament at the Culwell Center.
For the first time since winning their only league title in 1998 the Panthers
are back in the championship game. Leading them there was Jourdan DeMuynck who
scored a career-high 37 points in the semifinals against Jackson State as the
Panthers rolled to an 88-75 victory. The Panthers ended the regular season on
a two-game slide but have recovered nicely in the tourney.
Southern eased by Alabama A&M in Friday's semifinals, 72-59, to take its place
in Saturday's title game. The Jaguars have now won six of their last eight
games, including a 61-39 victory over Prairie View A&M in the regular-season
finale on March 2. Southern is 22-9 this season but actually should have been
the third seed if it weren't for postseason bans for Texas Southern and
Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The Jaguars' win over the Panthers earlier this month gave them a season sweep
and increased their all-time series lead to 55-17.
DeMuynck played all but one minute against Jackson State and knocked down 13-
of-23 shots from beyond the arc while collecting three steals on Friday.
Montrael Scott also dropped in 20 points for the Panthers who had a 28-18 edge
from the free-throw line and shot 56 percent overall.
Scott (4.6 ppg, 2.7 rpg) has really excelled in a starting role after spending
the bulk of the regular season off the bench. Scott had a 13-point, 10-rebound
double-double in the previous round while the 20 points he scored on Friday
were a season-high. DeMuynck (15.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg) has been producing at a high
level all year for the Panthers as the only player in double figures
consistently, despite shooting 38.7 percent from the field. Poor shooting has
been an issue for the Panthers as they net just 39.6 percent from the field.
They have made up for it as the fourth-best rebounding team in the country
(40.7 pg).
Led by 19 points from both Derick Beltran and Malcolm Miller, Southern posted
the semifinal victory over Alabama A&M. The Jaguars scored from all over the
floor in the contest, netting 10 shots from beyond the arc, while connecting
on 20-of-30 shots from the free-throw line.
Beltran (16.0 ppg) and Miller (16.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg) have been one of the best
scoring duos in the SWAC this season. Miller has been the more efficient
scorer, hitting on 52 percent of his shots from the floor, while Beltran has
taken more shots from long distance and nets just under 40 percent from the
field. Javan Mitchell (9.6 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Jameel Grave (9.3 ppg) provide
additional depth for the Jaguars who were the second-best team in the
conference in scoring (68.4 pg) this season. Southern is also a stout
defensive team, ranking among the top 15 teams in the country in both points
allowed (57.5 pg) and opponent field-goal percentage (.366).
The Sports Network