Prairie View A&M beats Lehigh in First Four for first March Madness win

By Canadian Press on March 19, 2026.

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Dontae Horne scored 25 points and Cory Wells had 19 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), who are making their third tournament appearance. They advance as the No. 16 seed in the South Region to face top seed and defending national champion Florida on Friday in Tampa, Florida.

Lehigh leading scorer Nasir Whitlock 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.

MIAMI (OHIO) 89, SMU 79

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Eian Elmer scored 23 points and Miami (Ohio) beat SMU for its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.

Elmer went 6 of 9 from 3-point range as the 11th-seeded RedHawks (32-1), unbeaten during the regular season, advanced in the Midwest Region to play No. 6 seed Tennessee.

Brant Byers added 19 points, including four 3s, and Luke Skaljac had 17 for Miami, making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007. The RedHawks finished 16 of 41 from 3-point range.

Jaden Toombs led SMU (20-14) with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Jaron Pierre Jr. scored 18 points and Boopie Miller had 15 for the Mustangs.

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This story has been corrected to show Eian Elmer scored 23 points, not 22.

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

The Associated Press