Dontae Horne scored 25 points as Prairie View A&M earned its first ever NCAA Tournament victory with a 67-55 win over Lehigh in a First Four matchup Wednesday in Dayton, Ohio.
In a contest between 16th-seeded longshots, the Panthers (19-17) dominated the second half, outscoring the Mountain Hawks (18-17) by a 40-26 margin. Prairie View A&M advances to face South Region No. 1 seed Florida, the defending tournament champion, on Friday in Tampa.
Cory Wells contributed 19 points, 11 rebounds, three steals and three blocks for the Panthers, who only had five players score. Lance Williams pitched in with 10 points, while Horne added seven rebounds and four steals.
“I believed in these guys from the very start,” Panthers coach Byron Smith said. “A great group of kids. … I knew we were going to get it going.”
Hank Alvey notched 23 points and a career-high 15 rebounds for Lehigh, which was in the Big Dance for the first time since 2012. Nasir Whitlock, who came in averaging a team-leading 21.0 points, managed only five points on 2-of-15 shooting from the field.
After trailing by two at halftime, Prairie View A&M scored eight of the first nine points in the second half to go in front 35-30.
Lehigh got within 37-36 on Alvey’s layup a few minutes later, but the Panthers promptly made another push.
Horne scored 10 points in about four minutes to help Prairie View A&M take a 49-41 lead. Wells followed with a jumper to give the Panthers their first double-digit advantage.
Joshua Ingram countered with a 3-pointer for the Mountain Hawks, but Williams and Horne responded with a bucket apiece to restore a double-digit lead.
Horne made multiple contested layups down the stretch to highlight his 16-point second half.
“First half, we kind of struggled,” Horne said. “We were trying to feel them out. But the second half, we came out playing harder, playing tougher. And we all had to really lock in. That was it.”
The game was tied at 15-all midway through the first half before Andre Urosevic made back-to-back 3-pointers as part of an 8-0 Lehigh run.
The Panthers never caught up in the first half, although Horne’s bucket in the final minute got Prairie View A&M within 29-27 at the break.
Alvey led all players with 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
