DAYTON, Ohio – No. 16 Lehigh (18-17, 11-7 PL) fell to No. 16 Prairie View A&M (19-17, 9-9 SWAC), 67-55, in the First Four of the 2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament at University of Dayton’s UD Arena.
Sophomore forward/center Hank Alvey led the Mountain Hawks with 23 points and 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. The second-team All-Patriot League selection shot 8-of-13 from the floor and grabbed seven offensive rebounds. Junior guard Joshua Ingram finished with seven points and seven rebounds and sophomore forward Edouard Benoit and first-year guard Andrew Urosevic each added eight points for the Mountain Hawks.
Prairie View A&M senior guard Dontae Horne scored a game-high 25 points, while the Panthers converted 16 Lehigh turnovers into an 18-5 advantage in points from turnovers to earn the program’s first NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament win.
Patriot League Champion Lehigh played in their sixth NCAA Tournament, the fourth of the Patriot League era and third under head coach Brett Reed. The Mountain Hawks had their six-game win streak snapped in Dayton.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FIRST FOUR
NO. 16 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M PANTHERS (19-17, 9-9 SWAC) 67, NO. 16 LEHIGH MOUNTAIN HAWKS (18-17, 11-7 PL) 55
UD Arena/Dayton, Ohio 6:40 p.m. ET (truTV)
BOX SCORE |
.PDF GAME BOOK
DAYTON, Ohio – Sophomore forward/center Hank Alvey finished with 23 points and 15 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, but No. 16 Lehigh could not keep pace with No. 16 Prairie View A&M in a 67-55 loss at UD Arena in the NCAA Tournament First Four.
*Alvey connected on 8-of-13 from the floor and grabbed seven offensive rebounds to help Lehigh hold a 15-4 advantage on second-chance points.
*He and first-year guard Andrew Urosevic scored 10 and eight points, respectively, in the first half to help the Mountain Hawks lead 29-27, at the half.
*Sophomore forward Edouard Benoit added eight points, while junior forward Joshua Ingram added seven points and seven boards. Patriot League Championship MVP Nasir Whitlock finished with five points and three rebounds.
*The Mountain Hawks struggled from 3-point range, connecting on just 6-of-24 from beyond the arc, including 3-of-11 in the second half, as the Panthers outscored Lehigh 40-26, after the half.
*Prairie View A&M senior guard Dontae Horne scored a game-high 25 points to go with seven rebounds and four steals, while graduate forward Cory Wells recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED…
FIRST HALF
*Alvey and Benoit combined to score 11 of Lehigh’s first 13 points, tying the score at 13 apiece by the 10:43 mark after the Panthers opened the game on a 5-0 run.
*First-year guard Andrew Urosevic came off the bench and scored eight quick points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in less than four minutes to help build a 23-15 lead with 7:38 remaining in the half.
*Despite shooting 23% (3-for-13) from beyond the arc in the first half, Lehigh went into the break with a 29-27 advantage.
*Alvey led Lehigh with 10 points and nine rebounds at the break, while Prairie View’s Dontae Horne and Cory Wells each scored nine points.
*The Mountain Hawks outscored the Panthers 7-0 on second-chance points, holding a 6-3 advantage on the offensive glass and a 19-17 overall advantage.
SECOND HALF
*The Panthers outscored Lehigh, 14-7, through the first six minutes of the second half, taking a five-point lead at 41-36. Whitlock hit a 3-pointer for his first basket of the game at the 13:12 mark to bring the Mountain Hawks back within two points, at 41-39.
*Prairie View A&M extended its lead to 10 points, using an 8-0 run midway through the second half before Ingram’s 3-pointer broke a scoring drought of nearly four minutes.
*The Panthers’ Horne scored 14 of his game-high 25 points in the second half to build their lead to as many as 13 points on the way to the program’s first NCAA Tournament victory.
*Whitlock scored all five of his points in the second half to give him 718 points this season, the fourth-highest single-season total in Patriot League history.
RECAP:
LEHIGH
LEHIGH POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE EXCERPTS
Opening Statement:
BRETT REED: The outcome of this game was disappointing. I want to give credit to Coach Smith and his entire staff at Prairie View. I thought their length and their athleticism was bothersome for us. We couldn't get a lot of dominos to fall where we had matchup advantages. We certainly tried to capitalize on any that were materializing from their switching. That's part of the reason why Hank got so many touches and ultimately demanded so much traffic.
On a night where we needed to play really well, we just didn't necessarily shoot the ball as well as we needed to. But this moment and this disappointment doesn't define the season that we had, and it doesn't define these young men, their productivity, as strong as they've played, and I couldn't be more proud of them. I couldn't be more proud of the way in which they represented Lehigh University, and I care a great deal about each and every one of them.
LEHIGH POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT |
PRESS CONFERENCE VIDEO
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