DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Dontae Horne scored 25 points and Cory Wells had 19 points and 11 rebounds as Prairie View A&M earned its first NCAA Tournament victory, 67-55 over Lehigh on Wednesday night in the First Four.
Lance Williams added 10 points for the Panthers (19-17), making their third tournament appearance after going 5-27 last season. They advance as the No. 16 seed in the South Region to face top seed and defending national champion Florida.
Horne
also had seven rebounds and four steals. Horne, Wells and Williams each played all 40 minutes.
Lehigh leading scorer Nasir Whitlock, the Patriot League Tournament MVP, went scoreless for more than 26 minutes and finished with five points. He was 2-of-15 shooting.
The last time Whitlock did not reach double figures was Nov. 9, when he had two points in a 69-47 loss at West Virginia.
Hank Alvey led Lehigh (18-17) with 23 points and 15 rebounds. He was the only scorer in double digits for the Mountain Hawks.
Prairie View A&M has won eight straight, including a 72-66 victory over Southern in the SWAC championship game.
Lehigh, in the tournament for the sixth time, won the Patriot League Tournament by beating Boston University 74-60 in the title game. The lone NCAA Tournament victory for the Mountain Hawks was an upset of Duke in 2012.
Andrew Urosevic hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second benefiting from a kind bounce, to give Lehigh its largest lead at 23-15. But just when it appeared Lehigh might start to pull away, Wells scored five straight points — including a 3 — to help the Panthers get back into the game.
Lehigh led 29-27 at halftime despite Whitlock, who averages 21 points per game, being scoreless. The Mountain Hawks were 3 of 13 from 3-point range in the opening half.
Whitlock missed his first nine shots before connecting on a 3 with 13:12 remaining.
With the Mountain Hawks' top scorer held in check, the Panthers extended their lead to 51-41 on a jumper by Wells with 8:34 left.
Prairie View A&M faces Florida on Friday night in Tampa, Florida.
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AP March Madness: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
