http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/03/cantey_comes_up_big_as_bulldog.html
HUNTSVILLE, AL. - Two days after letting Southwestern Athletic Conference leader Texas Southern escape Elmore Gym with an overtime win, Alabama A&M could ill-afford to drop another home game.
The Bulldogs, trying to build some much-needed momentum going into next week's SWAC Tournament, welcomed Prairie View to town Monday night along with former star guard Trant Simpson, a former Buckhorn High star, who spent his first three seasons at A&M.
While Simpson shot Prairie View back into the game down the stretch, Casey Cantey and company did just enough to come away with a victory.
Cantey scored a game-high 19 points to help the Bulldogs hold off the Panthers 63-58 before an announced crowd of 1,856 at Elmore Gym.
"We knew Trant wanted to come in with a bang because he was coming back home," Cantey said. "He was going to come hard. We had to contain him. He's a good player. We knew we couldn't stop him, so we contained him by playing team defense.
"We were able to withstand that little run he made and we were able to pull out the win."
A&M improved to 13-12 overall and 10-6 in league play with the victory. Prairie View suffered its second straight loss and fell to 8-21 and 5-11.
"I'm glad to get that game out of the way," said A&M coach Vann Pettaway, who didn't want to elaborate on Simpson's departure. "That might be the team we play in the tournament."
The Bulldogs led 9-7 three minutes into the game, but the Panthers scored six straight points to take the lead and maintained it through the first five minutes of the second half.
Cantey's 3-pointer with 13 minutes left gave A&M a 42-40 advantage and the Bulldogs extended their lead to as many as nine points, the last time coming with 4:29 remaining on a pair of free throws by DeMarquelle Tabb that made it 59-50.
That's when Simpson came to life.
He hit a 3-pointer with four minutes left to pull Prairie View within 59-53 and buried another one two minutes later that made it 60-56.
"We had a little breakdown and let them creep back in it," Pettaway said. "Every team is going to make a run. As a coach, you know when you're losing control of the game. I never had that feeling."
Jabari Deshields hit two free throws with 26.9 seconds left to give the Bulldogs a 62-56 lead, but Simpson hit two free throws to pull the Panthers within 62-58 with 21.3 seconds left. After Hester hit a free throw to make it 63-58, Simpson missed a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left and A&M ran out the clock to secure the victory.
"Coach Pettaway stressed that this was a must-win game," said Cantey, who also had six rebounds and three blocks. "We let Texas Southern get out Saturday, but we weren't going to let Prairie View get out."
Tabb backed Cantey with 13 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, while Bo Amusa and Deshields had eight points apiece.
Simpson, who was 5-of-19 from the field, including 3-of-8 from 3-point range, and Michael Griffin led Prairie View with 17 points each. Simpson scored 11 of his points in the last eight minutes of the game.
"Coach Pettaway decided to start me tonight because I was able to slow him down and limit his touches in Texas," A&M guard Cornelius Hester said. "We knew he wanted to come in here and put on a show. He got his points, but he had to take a lot of shots to get them. You can't stop a top scorer. You can contain him and we were able to do that."
