Prairie View Beats Lehigh in First Four to Advance, What CBB Fans Said About March Madness Win

Prairie View A&M men's basketball will play in the NCAA tournament's Round of 64 for the first time since 1998 after defeating Lehigh 67-55 in the First Four on Wednesday evening in Dayton, Ohio.

Senior guard Dontae Horne dominated this game by posting 25 points, seven rebounds and four steals. He played all 40 minutes and led the SWAC champions on both ends amid a sensational effort.

Senior forward Cory Wells was also sensational on offense (19 points) and defense (11 defensive boards, three steals, three blocks) in 40 minutes. Senior guard Lance Williams (10 points, two steals, two blocks) and junior forward Hassane Diallo (eight points, eight rebounds, three blocks) also excelled.

Prairie View's defense was the difference here. The Panthers had 12 steals and nine blocks to the Mountain Hawks' five steals and one blocks. Lehigh also committed 16 turnovers to Prairie View's nine and shot just 36 percent from the field and 6-of-24 from three (25 percent).

Mountain Hawks big man Hank Alvey led the way with 23 points and 15 rebounds.

Lehigh guard Nasir Whitlock, who averaged 21.0 points per game and played an invaluable role in guiding the Mountain Hawks to the Patriot League Championship, scored just five points on 2-of-15 shooting (1-of-7 from three). He started 0-for-9 and didn't score until his three with 13:12 left in regulation.

Mountain Hawks big man Hank Alvey kept Lehigh in it for most of the game with 23 points and 15 rebounds. However, a Lehigh cold spell in the middle of the second half, when the Mountain Hawks went scoreless for 3:50, really spelled doom for the team.

The Panthers went on an 8-0 run during that span before Joshua Ingram hit a three to cut the Prairie View lead to 51-44 with 8:10 left. However, the Panthers hit a pair of buckets in response and led by nine or more points for the rest of the game.

It hasn't been an easy ride for the Panthers, who entered this season off the heels of four straight losing campaigns, including a 5-27 mark in 2024-25.

However, they made a big step this year, going 9-9 in league play thanks in part to Horne arriving in town after transferring from Georgia Southern.

Unfortunately, the Panthers got a tough draw in the tough SWAC as a No. 8 seed in the 12-team regular season standings and needed to win four tournament games in five days to make the tournament.

However, they've won their SWAC and First Four games by a combined 50 points, including a 71-67 win over No. 1 seed Bethune Cookman in the quarterfinals.

After two SWAC tournament wins and a First Four victory, the Panthers are making a well deserved trip to the first round.

This victory also marks a pair of victories for HBCU after Howard, the MEAC champion, took down UMBC on Tuesday.

Fans reacted to the win, shouting out Horne and the team at-large.

Prairie View will now get a No. 16 seed and play defending national champion and No. 1 seed Florida on Friday at 9:25 p.m. ET in Tampa.