The Panola men’s basketball team lost to Lamar State Port Arthur here Tuesday night. 89-73. The loss drops the Ponies record to 7-3 and 1-1 in Region XIV play. “We really struggled in the second half to find a rhythm.” Said Head Coach Grant McMillan. “We gave up 20 offensive boards in the game. It’s tough to win giving other teams that many extra possessions.” He added.

After a seesaw first half, Panola trailed heading into the locker rooms 36-30. After getting down by 10 points on multiple occasions in the second half the Ponies cut the lead to 62-60 with 6:52 remaining in the game. Port Arthur went on a 7-0 run and Panola could not get any closer.

Offensively, Panola was led by Charles Tucker (Lansing, Michigan) with 15 points. Terry Holt (Nashville, Tennessee) scored in double figures for the fourth straight game netting 13 . Tope Arikawe (Nigeria) and Chan Williams-Bey (Hartford, Connecticut) also scored in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.  Jonathan Wiley (Houston, Texas) chased down 10 rebounds in the loss. As a team Panola gave up 20 offensive rebounds and was forced into 17 turnovers.

Panola will next be in action this upcoming Friday, November 27^th  as they head to Angelina College in Lufkin, Texas to play in their Thanksgiving Classic. The Ponies will take on Cedar Valley at 5:00 PM on the campus of Angelina College.