GAME NOTES: A pair of struggling clubs put the wraps on their involvement in the Las Vegas Invitational on Friday, as the Panthers of Prairie View do battle with the Brown Bears.

Prairie View has yet to put a tally in the win column, the team dropping each of its first six games. A 73-61 loss to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday as part of this event was the latest setback for the Panthers, who return home to face Schreiner on Wednesday in their next outing.

Brown has only one win to show for its efforts in the first half dozen outings, that being a 70-58 triumph over visiting Saint Peter's in the season opener. Since then, the Bears have dropped five straight, including Thursday's 79-58 verdict to Austin Peay. Brown will be back in action on Sunday against Johnson & Wales.

This bout marks only the second meeting between these two schools on the hardwood, with Brown winning the first in a 73-70 decision on the road during the 1992-93 season.

John Brisco scored 24 points and Tre Hagood added 15 more, but those efforts went for naught as Prairie View fell to Stephen F. Austin on Thursday. Jayrn Johnson chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Panthers, who shot just 36.7 percent from the floor. They committed an unsightly 22 turnovers, and they were beaten on the boards, 40-30. SFA was also rather careless with the basketball, coughing it up 21 times, but the Lumberjacks scored 27 points at the foul line to help put the game away.

The Panthers are shooting only 35.4 percent from the floor, which includes a 25 percent showing from 3-point range, but the team does have three players averaging double digits in the scoring column, although only two are playing at the moment. Brisco (12.2 ppg) and Hagood (10.7 ppg) are inching closer to scoring leader Scott Montrael (15.0 ppg), who has missed the last few games.

Leland King poured in 20 points, and Cedric Kuakumensah tacked on 15 of his own, but the Bears still came up short in their bid to knock off Austin Peay on Thursday. Brown was only 5-of-20 from 3-point range, and scored a mere seven points at the foul line in the 21-point setback to the Governors. APSU was allowed to hit 53.2 percent of its total shots, which included a 7-of-16 effort from downtown. Both teams were rather lax with regard to ball control, with the Govs guilty of 17 turnovers and the Bears 21.

King (17.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has been rock solid for Brown in the early going, as he leads the team in both scoring and rebounding. Fellow forwards Kuakumensah (11.2 ppg) and Rafael Maia (10.0 ppg) are averaging double figures as well for the Bears, who are netting 63.8 ppg but allowing more than 75 ppg.

Prairie View will put one in the win column eventually, but it will likely have to wait a little while longer as Brown brings the curtain down on its time in Vegas on a positive note.