Prairie View A&M added another memorable moment to HBCU basketball history on Tuesday night, defeating Lehigh 67-55 in the First Four for the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
The Panthers came into March with little margin for error. Prairie View A&M entered the SWAC Tournament as a No. 8 seed, then made a surprising run to the conference title and carried that momentum straight into Dayton. Now the Panthers have delivered one of the biggest postseason victories in school history and another landmark moment for Black college basketball.
Prairie View A&M did not come out firing offensively, but Byron Smith’s team stayed composed and leaned on defense, rebounding effort and physical play to take control. After a slow start, the Panthers found their rhythm and never let Lehigh get comfortable. Prairie View A&M shot 27-of-57 from the field, good for 47.4 percent, while holding Lehigh to just 21-of-58 shooting, or 36.2 percent.
Defense led the way for Prairie View A&M
The defensive effort was the difference. Prairie View A&M piled up 12 steals and nine blocks, constantly disrupting Lehigh’s half-court offense and turning pressure into points. Even though Lehigh finished with a 39-34 rebounding edge, the Panthers made the bigger hustle plays throughout the game and forced 16 turnovers.
Senior guard Dontae Horne led Prairie View A&M with 25 points, seven rebounds, four steals and a block in a standout performance. He shot 11-of-22 from the field and gave the Panthers the scoring punch they needed. Graduate forward Cory Wells added 19 points and 11 rebounds for a double-double, while also contributing three steals and three blocks in a dominant two-way effort.
Graduate guard Lance Williams chipped in 10 points, four rebounds and two steals, and junior forward Hassane Diallo made a major impact off the bench with eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots. Prairie View A&M also got five points from graduate guard Tai’Reon Joseph, whose three-pointer helped keep momentum on the Panthers’ side.
After the game, head coach Byron Smith praised his team’s resilience.
“Very happy with the result,” Smith said. “We didn’t score the ball very well early on. But we kept rebounding and we kept defending.”
The win was significant beyond Prairie View A&M itself. It marked the ninth First Four victory by an HBCU and made Prairie View A&M the fourth SWAC program to earn a win on that stage.
Now Prairie View A&M turns its attention to defending national champion Florida, with a shot to build on a historic March run.